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POEMS: The Soul Selects Her Own Society |
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| The Soul Selects Her Own Society In this particular poem, Dickinson is commenting on how selective humans tend to be with the people and situations they associate themselves with. In the first quatrain, Dickinson makes note on how once the soul "selects her own society" (line 1), the rest of the world is shut out and the soul refuses to dance with any other groups. In the second quatrain, Dickinson writes on how even when incredible circumstances come upon one, the soul remains "unmoved" (line 7). Dickinson concludes the poem by reiterating the theme that the soul has the ability to choose whatever domain or friends they want; it's getting the soul to allow change that's difficult. Throughout the poem, there is a recurring image of the opening and closing of doors and pathways. These images appear in line two ("…shuts the door;"), line six ("…her low gate;"), and line eleven ("…close the valves of her attention…"). The closing off of a walkway parallels how Emily Dickinson feels about people closing themselves off to the window of opportunity that exists around us every single day. This particular image is ironic in that Dickinson rarely left her home and was something of a hermit in her later life. This poem focuses around the theme that there is always more to life than the circle of friends and community you surround yourself with. |