Unrequited Love

Prose

Emily Dickinson Face to Face: Unpublished Letters

The Soul selects her own Society (303)

Emily Dickinson, 1830 – 1886

The soul selects her own society,

Then shuts the door;

To her divine majority

Present no more.

Unmoved, she notes the chariots pausing

At her low gate;

Unmoved, an Emperor be kneeling

Upon her mat.

I’ve known her from an ample nation

Choose one;

Then close the valves of her attention

Like stone.

Stanza 1.

            Involves a form of alliteration in lines one and two. Dickinson’s soul is what is making the choice, with setting her expectations high. As I imagine it “shutting the door,” means closing a final chapter. When she mentions “divine majority” divine to me makes me think of a higher power and majority resembles most.

Stanza 2.

            The vocabulary Dickinson uses resembles the social class she’s describing throughout the stanza such as, chariots, low gate, and emperor kneeling. I began to wonder as I was reading line three is she being courted? He is kneeling before her even though her soul appears to be unpleased.

Stanza 3.

            Within this stanza, Dickinson states “ample nation” referring to her narrowing in on one lover. The soul close’s “the valves”; valves cannot receive anything if they are closed shut. Just like stone, when I think of a stone I think cold and hard.

* All of the lines within these three stanzas are enjambed lines, making the reader continue reading to understand the whole poem.

Unrequited Love

The mind chooses his paradise,

Then unlocks the heart;

To his mortal inferiority

Absence no more.

Moved, he notes models awaiting

At his high gate;

Moved a muses poise

Upon his studios fate.

He’s known her from insufficient kindom

Chosen word;

Then opens the avenues of his minds fixation

Like Vogue.