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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.
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