zero+and+bone

"Zero" and "Bone"
Dickinson's first metaphor in the last two lines of the poem graphically conveys the strong emotional feeling of irrational fear. "Without a tighter breathing-- / And Zero at the Bone" vividly portrays the breathtaking, icy feeling that one experiences when faced with an irrational fear. When one reads these lines, the thought of being "[z]ero at the bone" causes one to feel the coldness and to shiver.

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