“The Soul selects her own Society”

The soul selects her own Society—
Then—shuts the Door—
On her divine Majority—
Obtrude no more—

Unmoved—she notes the Chariot's—pausing—
At her low Gate—
Unmoved—an Emperor is kneeling
Upon her Mat.

I've known her—from an ample nation—
Choose One—
Then—close the Valves of her attention—
Like Stone—

  1. How does the poet personify the soul in the first stanza?
  1. How does the poet personify the soul in the last stanza?

  1. Dickinson’s early editors changed the word “valves” to “lids” in line 11.
  2. How does this change the metaphor?
  1. How does it change what you see?
  1. Look at the meter of lines 10 and 12. How does their rhythmical pattern differ from the corresponding lines in the first and second stanzas?
  1. What is the effect of this difference?
  1. Do you think the “soul selects her own society” in the strict way that is described in the poem? Explain your answer

“Much Madness is divinest Sense”

Much Madness is divinest Sense—

To a discerning Eye—

Much Sense—the starkest Madness—

’Tis the Majority

In this, as All, prevail—

Assent—and you are sane—

Demur—you’re straightway dangerous—

And handled with a Chain—

  1. Why does the poet choose to use the word “divinest” here?
  1. What is the speaker saying about creativity and conformity in lines 4-7?
  1. What does the image in the last line suggest?
  1. What is the bigger meaning of this image?
  1. The word “assent” means “agree to,” and the word “demur” means “hesitate, object.” What does the word “Majority” say about those who assent and those who demur?
  1. What is the poem’s theme? (Consider what the speaker thinks about the individual’s proper relationship to society.)
  1. What is the tone in this poem? What similarities do you notice to the other poems we’ve read?

Name: ______Date: ______Period: ______

Free Verse and Emily Dickinson

Free Verse: does not follow a rhyme scheme

  • does not follow a regular meter (pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables)
  • lines can be of any length
  • may have traditional poetic elements, but may not!

“Because I could not stop for Death”

Because I could not stop for Death—

He kindly stopped for me—

The Carriage held but just Ourselves—

And Immortality.

We slowly drove—He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility—

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess—in the Ring—

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—

We passed the Setting Sun—

Or rather—He passed us—

The Dews drew quivering and chill—

For only Gossamer, my Gown—

My Tippet—only Tulle—

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground—

The Roof was scarcely visible—

The Cornice—in the Ground—

Since then—'tis Centuries—and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity—

  1. During what period of time—consider both the literal and symbolic levels—do the evens in the third stanza seem to take place?
  2. Literal:
  1. Symbolic:
  1. How is Death personified? What are his human characteristics?
  1. What three things do the riders pass in the third stanza? What do these symbolize?
  1. How would you paraphrase the first two lines in a way that emphasizes their irony?
  1. The fifth stanza is a riddle in itself. What is the house that is nearly buried?
  1. What is the ironic twist in the last stanza?

  1. Do you think the last stanza introduces a toneof terror, because the speaker has suddenly realized she will ride on forever, conscious of being dead? Or is the poem really an expression of triumph? Explain your response.