First, read and annotate the following poems:
# 95: “The Soul selects her own Society”
# 558: “There is a solitude of space”
# 246: “The Battle fought between the Soul”
# 282: “The Soul unto itself”
Take half an hour to analyze one of these poems. Your post should, like the last one, examine what you understand as well as what confuses you so that you can help the class understand the poem.
In this post, you need to also reference another post. Do you agree or disagree? How did that post help you understand the poem or see it in a new way? This means that the first person in each section to post catches a break!
Put the poem number at the top to make it easier for others.
I also encourage you to post your comment as a comment on the post you’re referencing, so that you make a thread.
#282
ReplyDeleteI understand the first stanza. The Soul "is an imperial friend - or the most agonizing spy - an enemy." What Dickinson is saying is that the soul can be one of two things: one's best friend or one's worst enemy.
What I don't understand is what truly makes the soul "Sovereign of itself."
What Dickinson is trying to say is that the one's soul knows everything. It's a "spy" because it always knows what one is thinking. It knows all of one's secrets, but will never share them with anyone else. It will not commit "treason." Because of its loyalty, one should have faith in their soul and "stand in awe." The soul is capable of anything, and one should trust their soul with everything.
#282
DeleteLee, job well done. The fruit of your labor is sweet, and I must say you deserve it. I agree completely with what you said. I understand how Dickinson is saying that your sould can be either am imperial friend or an agonizing spy your enemy has sent. These are both opposites of each other so it is saying your sould is either good or bad. What i dont understand is the part where she says "secure against itself no treason it can fear". Are these opposites as well? Does this mean that the soul will not go against itself? I dont understand the second stanza as well as the first.
# 246
ReplyDeleteI understand the first stanza becasue it is describing the struggle that a person has with "No Man" or loneliness. Out of all the battles in the world the biggest battle is fighting with your loneliness.
What I don't understand is what the "Legions of a Night" means/is.
The overall purpose of this poem is to talk about how you can be in a fight with yourself over loneliness. No one will know how much pain you are in even though the pain may be really bad and may last forever.
I agree with what Lee said because I also think that Dickinson is sayind that the soul can be good or bad. I didn't think of the treason as telling secrets.
#558
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read this poem, I thought that Emily Dickinson was trying to exclude herself from everyone. But after reading over it a few times, I began to think it was just her nature of loneliness that secluded her from everyone and left her in solitude. But she seems to believe that a person’s one true self is their soul. It is in a period of “polar privacy” that we can actually find our true identities. And a person’s soul cannot be explained by anyone but themselves and is truly immeasurable.
#558
DeleteI actually had the same idea that she herself was praising solitude and self-exclusion. As I break the poem down and think back to the others we've read I have a different idea. She starts the poem by saying there is a solitude of space, sea, and death. It reminds me of the different parts of the universe she touched when she "died" in poem 142. Then she goes on to say that "Society shall be Compared with that of a profounder site." I believe that here she focuses on death because she calls it a "polar privacy". When I think of something being polar it can be separated and unexplainable as Parker says. I also think of something being cold, white, and dead (polar referring to the cold). When you die, you're alone. It is a feeling you feel alone and it is the moment at which the soul reaches peace from the flesh. I think, "A soul admitted to itself", means that there is some new found peace that one receives at death due to the idea of eternity or a life afterwards. It is pleasing that life may go on - which is what I connect to "Finite infinity".
#282
ReplyDeleteJust as Lee does, I can understand the first stanza of the poem, and how the Soul can go two ways in being the best friend a man could have, or the worst enemy. What I don't understand is how the Soul could be an enemy that someone "sends".. how do you send your Soul to torture someone else? I understand the should torturing yourself, but not someone else, unless your body is helping the Soul do so. The last stanza is a bit confusing as well, but after reading Lee's answer, I began to understand it a little more because he explained "It will not commit "treason." Because of its loyalty, one should have faith in their soul and "stand in awe." The soul is capable of anything, and one should trust their soul with everything."
#95
ReplyDelete"The soul selects her own society" means that one is able to choose his or her friends and the environment in which he/she wants to live in. "Then shuts the door" negates the first line by saying the soul then rejects his/her friends and family. There is an idea here of openess and rejection. Why though would you choose your friends then reject them immediately? Is Emily's intent for there to be an immediate rejection. Most likely no. It takes time to get to know your friends and you would not simply reject your loved ones. "On her divine majority" which i think means something along the lines of her individual rights, plays a role in being able to choose your peers. You have the right to determine how you wish to live.
The second stanza was a bit confusing. I believe Dickinson is saying that everyone is their own king/Queen and that everyone has people bowing down to them. This translates to the whole idea of everyone being their own person and everyone being able to make their own decisions in life.
The last stanza is difficult as well. Is she closing the poem by saying I have known a friend or loved one for a long time"ample nation" then saying choose one meaning choose your friend and stand by it. Dickinson goes from an option to a command in a way. She then goes back to the idea of rejection when she says "Then close the valves of her attentionLike stone meaning to ignore her(friend)
558
ReplyDeleteI think that the idea of this poem relates to the ideas that Whitman speaks about in his writings. It is a little confusing and contradictory but it speaks about a person that knows that they are set apart from the rest nut understands that this is the key to finding themselves. She says "A soul admitted to itself" I think that she is saying someone’s inner selves has figured out the truths of itself and understands its inner identity.
maybe I am wrong but I disagree with antonio connecting this to the idea of death, I just didnt get that from the poems. Are you trying to say that your soul wants to die?
Delete282:
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Lee. I understand how "The soul unto itself Is an imperial friend". Our soul can either be our friend or it can be our worst enemy and totally be against us. I do not understand the line "The soul should stand in Awe". Dickinson is trying to tell us that our soul is either evil or good and when it is evil it can act like the most agonizing spy. Our soul is always acting like a spy because it knows everything about us. Although our soul knows everything about us it would never tell another soul because of how loyal it is.
#95
ReplyDeleteFrom the first stanza we derive that the soul has a choice, not so the actual being. “Then shuts the door” is also a very interesting line, the soul, is personified. “On her divine majority” possibly means that that the soul has shut itself out from most of it self or hurt itself. Majority could also be a reference to age, or superiority, giving away superiority. The shutting of the door seems to illustrate a final action. The next stanza. Maybe she is referring to herself through, maybe a mirrored image. Maybe the poem talks as a whole about grow to love another person.
I'm referencing Marus's post, I think he has a good idea about the poem and I agree.