There is no Frigate like a Book

While the poem focuses primarily on the effects that poetry and literature can have on its potential readers, “There is no Frigate like a Book” also focuses on proper poetic form. The speaker’s reference to “prancing Poetry” (Line 4) suggests a particular attention to the rhythm and meter of a poetic work. Dickinson reflects this attention in the poem’s strict form and perfect iambic lines (See: Literary Devices). The iambic feet (consisting of one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable), meanwhile, mimics the horses’ prance.

Like the “prancing” horses that represent the poetic work, the speaker’s emphasis on poetry’s rhythm is connected with its mobility. Since iambic feet have their stress on the second syllable, they move the poem forward like a series of pulses. This prancing effect is a sonic embodiment of poetry’s ability to move like the horses.

“There is no Frigate like a Book” draws a number of symbols from historic and contemporary war machines. The “[c]hariot” (Line 7) is a two-wheeled, open cart typically driven by two or more horses. The cart’s simplicity and light-weight construction allowed it to reach speeds faster than anything on its contemporary battlefield. Dating back to around 2000 BCE, the chariot is most commonly associated with ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome in the Western imagination.