The Soul has Bandaged Moments: Plot

Sure thing, let’s examine “The Soul has Bandaged Moments: Structure & Language Techniques”.

Structure

The poem is written in quatrains with a loose ABCB rhyme scheme.
Dickinson employs her characteristic use of dashes and exclamation points to manipulate the reading pace and to create a sense of unresolved tension.
The poem is structured in ballad form, which gives it a rhythmic quality.

Metaphor: The soul is personified and seen as a prisoner in its bandaged moments, an idea recurrent in many of Dickinson’s poems.
Imagery: Vivid images like “fleeing feet” and “Horror’s hand” give us a sense of the turmoil the speaker experiences.
Simile: The use of similes such as ‘“As Free as Boards, of Gainsboro—”’ help to enhance the idea of inescapable mental pain.
Alliteration and Assonance: These are used throughout. For example, in line ‘A Fright… forms—forms—’ the repetition of the ‘F’ sound emphasizes the fear and horror experienced by the speaker.
Symbolism: The Soul, the divine figure, the fleeing feet, and horror’s hand, are all symbolic elements that add depth to the poem’s meaning.

These points should help you to understand Dickinson’s clever use of structure and language techniques in “The Soul has Bandaged Moments”.