Preview

A complete analysis of Emily Dickinson's poem, "The soul selects her own Society"

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
797 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A complete analysis of Emily Dickinson's poem, "The soul selects her own Society"
"The Soul selects her own Society" is one of the greatest poems written by Emily Dickinson. It personifies her literary career to the "t" with the upmost descriptiveness. This poem describes a difficult selection of the soul between two societies; popular majority and self majority. It displays a light sense of imagery with a dark sense of thought. However, Dickinson 's diction, imagery, symbols, and rhyme are impeccable and root deeply from her sense of description.

The diction inside of Dickinson 's poem is very direct and straight to the point, with little wandering, even for the use of imagery. Even though some statements, such as "...an Emperor be kneeling...", make it hard for the reader to follow the poem, it allows the reader to expound more on the poem and in doing so become more able to understand the poem and relate it to self. The diction used affects the poem great as well as the way it is interpreted. The opening line, "The Soul selects her own Society-...", gives you the thought that Dickinson may be talking about herself in the poem then statements like, "I 've known her-...", make think that she is talking about someone else like a close friend or relative that has went through this present situation. But even in doing so, she allows you to somehow relate to the poem by opening up to not only self but also to friends, family members, and associates you might can relate it to.

Another way diction dynamically affects the poem is within its combination with imagery. The diction and imagery within the poem gives you not only a verbal sense of the poem, but a visual sense as well. With statements like, "...shuts the Door-...", "...Present no more-...", "...she notes the Chariots-...", and "...an Emperor be kneeling-..." make the reader feel as if they were right there in the mist of the action. The imagery also gives the reader much insight to the reader about the person 's thoughts within the poems wall 's. It links the reader in a deep bond with the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickinson Final Test Study Guide “The Soul selects her own Society” 1. When does the soul shut the door?…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 in Massachusetts. Emily was raised and would eventually live her entire life in almost complete isolation. The few people Dickinson came into contact with were her family and Reverend Charles Wadsworth. Despite how cut off Dickinson was from the world, she still managed to read vivaciously and was influenced by many other poets. Another prominent influence in her poetry was her heavily Puritan background. Dickinson’s poems were only found upon her death and were later published by her…

    • 85 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dickinson's use of metaphors in this poem compares the traditional ways of religion and the church with a different perspective. She effectively compares nature with religion through her imagery. The comparisons between the lack of attendance at church has always been associated with not getting into Heaven, and Dickinson brings comfortable support for those that feel differently. The truest form of prayer and belief starts from within a person. Emily Dickinson confirms that with this brief but powerful…

    • 79 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickinson Imagery

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The first thing one should notice about Dickinson’s poem is the amount of repetition seen and heard throughout: every line has some kind of alliteration or assonance. The first two lines are almost identical: “I am afraid to own a Body” and “I am afraid to own…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Growing up Dickinson took her young cousin into her room, pretended to lock the door and looked at her and said you now have freedom. Today it is believed she said this because she believed her room to be the place she had freedom to write, be herself and develop her great writing. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by two acquaintances pf hers, Thomas Higginson and Mabel Todd, they both edited the content and the released it to the public. After this release, a complete, and unaltered collection of Dickinson’s poetry became available for the first time when scholar Thomas Johnson published The Poems of Emily Dickinson in 1955. In her writing Dickinson crafted a different type of persona for the first person. The speakers in her poetry, are sharp-sighted observers who see the no limitations. In her writing, she also created a specific elliptical language for expressing what was possible but not yet realized. Despite things like some bad opinions from people over the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Dickinson is now considered to be one of the most significant of all American…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, some might argue that she was trying to identify and make sense of a frame of mind she did not understand. One reviewer wrote, “Because Dickinson is Dickinson, she sees “oppositely”, love (and gender) can only be understood in relation to its opposite” (Pollak, 1999). Even to this day academics still discuss and argue over the paradoxes and obscurities of Dickinson 's life and work. There is one fact about Emily Dickinson that is not up for debate and that is Dickinson’s personal desire for privacy. She was not a well-known poet until after her death in 1886 (Moore,…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A sense of belonging can be developed from one’s choice to cease interaction with their world, and instead to concentrate on the satisfying of personal desires. Through Dickinson’s poetry, she illustrates her resilience after experiences of rejection from society, and her aspiration to be accepted in posterity. In This is my letter to the world, this notion is conveyed when she incorporates a grieved, self-pitying tone when discussing “the world / that never wrote to me”. From the rejection that she has received in response to her desire for social recognition, Dickinson displays her lack of concern for society with the absence of any criticism or anger. Rather, she expresses an emotional determination to develop a stronger self-identity. In addition, the “hands I cannot see” act as symbolism for the degree of isolation that Dickinson feels from society. A sense of ambiguity is created as she emphasises a trust in her work to posterity, whilst also emphasising her choice to separate…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The human desire for belonging can be nurtured or inhibited by an individual’s society. In her poem, “this is my letter to the world,” Dickinson not only reveals her desire to belong, but also the way that society has prevented her from achieving this. Dickinson accomplishes this effectively as she reflects her feelings through a “letter to the world.” Dickinson attempts to internalise the views of her society and, upon failing to do so, retreats further within herself where she finds a sense of belonging. The line “The simple news that Nature told, with tender majesty,” demonstrates Dickinson’s reverence for nature and the hope that people will be able to hear her message through it, which is personified as the mediator between Dickinson and her society. Within this poem, it is clear that Dickinson has a closer affinity to nature than she does with society. It is through nature that she is able to gain a sense of belonging, which is fundamental for human growth and development. Dickinson's messages are complex and profound but usually conveyed in simple language, which tends to create an enigmatic effect. In this poem, Dickinson uses metonymy to represent her society as “hands I cannot see.” This demonstrates her alienation with society and her need to simplify them into something she is able to comprehend. The last line makes a final appeal to the…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Every piece of literature, whether it be a short poem or lengthy novel, has a meaning behind it. Sometimes these meanings are obvious, but ultimately, it is up to the reader what he or she chooses to take out of the reading. Emily Dickinson was a famous poet known for combining rhetorical devices with universal themes to connect with her audience as well as display her own feelings about different aspects in life. In her poem “The Soul’s Storm,” Dickinson utilizes different elements of nature to reflect the emotional despair of facing/overcoming the obstacles of everyday life.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, the main theme of the poem is you are better off by yourself and your opinion of yourself is all that matters.“How happy is the stone that rambles in the road alone and doesn’t care about careers and exigencies never fears”, this quote alone showcases the theme of the poem. Without reservation, the message to be received is the person that walks in life by himself and for himself, is the happiest; the person that doesn’t care about what society deems as success or necessities is very fearless. It is believed that you don’t achieve true success until you have a meaningful career. However, the person who is willing to go against society’s beliefs is brave and courageous. “Whose coat of elemental brown a passing universe put on”, this quote is the most powerful quote in the poem. Certainly, it expresses that we label ourselves based on what the universe has already labeled us as. The “coat of elemental brown” can be interpreted as what the stone would describe itself as. “A passing universe put on” can be interpreted that the universe made the stone believe that it was brown. “And independent as the sun, associates or glows alone, fulfilling absolute decree in casual simplicity”, this quote ties the whole poem together and makes the theme very clear. When a person is independent and consumed of their own thoughts, they achieve personal order. They have control of themselves and their destinies, and that’s what success is. If you do you and be you, you can never fail. To conclude, Dickinson is stressing that true success is is living by yourself for yourself. When you let go of all the things society has to say, you are fearless; when you make decisions by yourself, become in charge of your own…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on 10th December, 1830, in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts and was raised in a strict Calvinistic home. Amherst, was 50 miles from Boston, had become well known as a center for Education, based around Amherst College. Emily’s family were pillars of the local community; theirs house was known as “The Homestead” or “The Mansion” was often used as a meeting place for distinguished visitors. (“Brief Biography of Emily Dickinson.”) and (Beers, G. Kylene, Lee Odell, and Robert Anderson)…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Emily Dickinson?s ?I died for beauty but was scarce?, Edwin Arlington Robinson?s ?Richard Cory?, and Paul Dunbar?s ?We Wear the Mask? share common themes of lies, beauty, and death. All authors attain a different form and style of writing; however they all mutually share the idea that physical appearance masks the internal. That despite your astonishing looks you can still be suffering internally. Physical appearance is temporary for death is inevitable. Appearances can be deceiving. Dickinson, Robinson, and Dunbar employ a recurring theme of the inevitability of death, lies, and the value of beauty.…

    • 1290 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the history of human kind, there have existed a significant number of poets, who did not care to write about “happy things.” Rather, they concerned themselves with unpleasant and sinister concepts, such as death. Fascination and personification of death has become a common theme in poetry, but very few poets mastered it as well as Emily Dickinson did. Although most of Dickinson’s poems are morbid, a reader has no right to overlook the aesthetic beauty with which she embellishes her “dark” art. It is apparent that for Dickinson, death is more than an event, which occurs at least once in a lifetime of every being. For her, death is a person, who will take her away with Him, when the right time comes,…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Emily Dickinson Isolation

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Emily Dickinson is an American poet of exclusion, whose writing consists of passionate and emotional eccentric meanings with much complexity. Her poems interpret her relationship with society, where she struggles to maintain her independence and needs to isolate from society to maintain this. Dickinson’s use of structure, syntax and rhyme are complex and do not conform to the norms of poetic structure, which is a parallel to Emily’s peculiar lifestyle.…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There Is Another Sky

    • 625 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Dickinson was a writer of 19th century who grows up in social disconnection from a youthful age. Her grip of the nature which go alone with her as she nurtured, isolated from the world, is gotten to the frontline this work.…

    • 625 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays