This World is not Conclusion

Like many of Dickinson’s poems, “This World is not Conclusion” possesses an inconsistent meter and rhyme scheme. The poem consists of 20 lines of varying syllabic lengths divided into five quatrains (four-line stanzas). While the majority of lines are either six or seven syllables, there are several eight-syllable lines. However, although there is no set pattern, the first and third stanzas follow an alternating pattern of 7-6-7-6 syllables.

The poem also does not consistently use rhyme. Though most of the stanzas follow an ABCB rhyme scheme, the fourth stanza forgoes rhyming altogether. Furthermore, even the stanzas that do adhere to the ABCB rhyme scheme often do so through slant rhymes, or near rhymes. For instance, Dickinson rhymes “beyond” with “Sound” (Lines 2, 4) and “borne” with “shown” (Lines 10, 12).

Alliteration is a recurring literary device throughout “This World is not Conclusion.” Frequently used in poetry, alliteration is the deliberate repetition of a sound at the beginning of two or more words in proximity. This has the effect of linguistically connecting and emphasizing these words, transferring some of the firm stability of the word “stand” to “species” (Line 2) and linking the appealing mystery of the eternal with its unsolvability through the repeating b sound of “beckons” and “baffles” (Line 5).