Poem+number+520

In the poem, "I started Early-- took my Dog--," I think Emily Dickinson is talking about a boat in the ocean exploring for new land. The lines that support my theory are: These support my theory because they all refer to the sea and a boat. The poem explains the day that a ship anchored onto land. The lesson of this poem is that the ocean (I think she is really trying to communicate to people our age about the world) is a large and scary place.
 * The Mermaids in the Basement
 * Aground-- Upon the Sands
 * But no Man moved Me-- till the Tide
 * And made as He was would eat me up--
 * At me-- the Sea withdrew

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This poem talks about a man and his experience and interaction with the sea at the coast. The water is described as the "basement" and the frigates, large sailing ships, are on the "upper floor" and this man's place was in the sand, where he felt very small. The second standza is saying how little-by-little the tide (called He in the poem) began washing over him; first it was only as shallow as his shoe, then past his belt and even higher. The man was being taken in by the sea to the point where he was frightened and started walking away to go back into down. The wave then followed after him and as he finally got far enough away the wave withdrew because of unfamiliarity. This is exactly how it feel when you walk along any coast. The tides crash it and roll high up the sand and almost feel like they are pulling you back in. I think that Dickinson did a great job describing her experience and giving it life through personification. This poem was very easy to interpret and I think that is why I liked it. 1205457690