Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Lexicon: I – idly
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I (I'd, I'll, I'm, I've), pron. [OE ic.; first-person singular nominative personal pronoun referring to the speaker; see me, mine, my, myself.] (webplay: arise, closes, coin, delights, ear, extent, fail, feign, field, fine, friend, gift, glory, holy, join, jot, kind, Latin, learned, letter, long, me, meek, oil, opened, organs, pity, seen, seize, self, sound, us, vain, we, writer, yes).
- [Refers to a speaker who feels imprisoned.]
- [Refers to a bird that is named in the text.]
- [Refers to speaker displaying the traits of a blacksmith.]
- [Refers to a soldier in a battle, or a contender in a war of words; (see 16 Oct 1859, John Brown at Harper's Ferry).]
- [Refers to a flower named in the text.]
- [Refers to a boy child or a girl child.]
- [Refers to a female spouse.]
- [Refers to a speaker described as intoxicated by nature.]
- [Specific language suggesting Dickinson herself.]
- [Refers to a female taking vows or making a covenant.]
- [Refers to a speaker of enormous power and authority, such as a Queen, poet, artist or unspecified monarch.]
- [Refers to a gender-neutral observer not named in the text.]
- [Refers to a speaker who reflects on the future.]
- [Refers to midnight personified; refers to the sunrise as majesty personified.]
- [Refers to a girl.]
- [Refers to a direct quotation spoken by Jesus Christ.]
- [Refers to a speaker from the grave or beyond.]
- [Refers to a speaker who is royal or upper class.]
- [Refers to a female considering marriage.]
- [Refers to a carpenter.]
- [Refers to a disciple or follower; (literary) refers to “Little John” in the Robin Hood story; (Biblical) refers to John the Beloved or John the Baptist.]
- [Refers to a gender-neutral child not named in the text.]
- [Refers to a female observer not named in the text.]
- [Refers to three aspects of selfhood in the speaker.]
- [Refers to a speaker pondering mortality.]
- [Refers to a speaker as male and female.]
- [Refers to a person addressing a mountain colored by a sunset or a sunrise.]
- [Refers to a loaded gun personified as speaking to its owner.]
- [Refers to love personified.]
- [Refers to a speaker pondering the next life.]
- [Refers to a lost speaker.]
- [Refers to the human spirit personified.]
- [Refers to a male observer not named in the text.]
- [Refers to a person uttering a syllable of faith that saves from despair.]
- [Refers to a fly personified.]
- [Refers to an aspect of nature, such as the wind or a rain storm.]
- [Refers to Thermopylae personified.]
- [Refers to a speaker who is volatile or one who lives near a volcano.]
ice (-s), n. [OE ís.] (webplay: cold).
- Frozen water; surface of solid cold liquid.
- Glacier; snow-pack; [fig.] iron; hard cold metal.
- Coldness; frigid temperature; [fig.] reserve; disdain; lack of personal warmth.
icicle (-s), n. [OE isgicel; see ice, n.]
- Ice spike; conical ice formation; fringe of frozen ice sticks hanging from the upper edges of a building; [metonymy] winter; [metaphor] sharp obvious grief; evidence of shedding tears.
- Chill; cold temperature; sensation of freezing; [fig.] paralysis; loss of sensation; deadening of feeling; [metaphor] hopelessness; numbness of doubt, fear, or grief.
idea, n. [L. idea in Platonic sense < Gk.] (webplay: mind).
Model; visualization; something seen in the mind; [fig.] structure; construct; representation.
ideal (-s), n. [Fr. < L. ideālis.]
- Image; standard; pleasing notion; concept of perfection.
- Vision; fanciful idea; figment of imagination.
identify (identified), v. [L. indentificāre.] (webplay: enlarged, owner).
- Distinguish; discern; regard; consider; recognize.
- Discover; find; claim as property.
- Be recognizable; [fig.] be remembered.
identity, n. [Fr. identité < L.]
- Soul; psyche; self-consciousness; self-awareness; [pejorative] ego; narcissism; selfishness; self-love; self-importance.
- Self; individual being; personal existence; unique personhood; essence of being; right to life, liberty, and happiness.
- Persona; role; character; similitude; likeness; counterpart; manifestation of what is, what has been, and what will be; [fig.] Dasein; Deity; Being.
- Realization; recognition; identification; growing awareness.
- Reality; existence; being; [fig.] Creation.
- Phrase. “mansion of Identity”: corporeal existence; a physical body; [kenning] divinity; godliness; unique intelligence; spiritual reality.
idle, adj. [OE ídel.] (webplay: away, employed, man).
- Unused; not touched.
- Motionless; resting; still; inactive; without movement; [fig.] dead; lifeless.
- Absent; having no present use.
idleness, n. [OE ídelnes.] (webplay: labor). Inaction; no interaction.
- Frivolity; flitting; aimlessness; pointlessness; uselessness; meaningless activity; purposeless movement; erratic waltzing around.
- Motionlessness; paralysis; disability; forced inactivity; natural stillness; inability to work; [irony] slothfulness; indolence; procrastination; laziness; aversion to labor; [fig.] death.
- Rest; repose; pause; temporary respite.
- Relaxation; ease; recreation; diversion; fun pastime.
idly, adv. [see idle, adj.]
Lazily; irresponsibly; haphazardly; in a carefree manner.