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.
Poem 246:
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was a poem about the internal battle that everyone has within themselves. The battle is about discovering yourself and winning the battle of one's self. From the first stanza, I gathered that the battle within ourselves is the greatest battle that we ever endure. "The Battle fought between the Soul/ And No Man--is the One/ Of all the Battles prevalent--/ By far the Greater One--" This shows that the battle is the greatest one that we dace in our lives and that it is the most important in our lives. I think that Dickinson is telling us that the battle to define who is are is one of the longest and most difficult battles to go through and it doesn't really ever end. From the second stanza, I got that nobody else knows about each individuals internal battle. It is a battle within our souls and it "Establishes, and terminates--/ Invisible--Unknown--." This quote showed me that the battle within ourselves in unknown to anyone besides our souls. Our battles begin and end internally, and the are invisible to everyone outside of ourselves. I thought that the last stanza was a little bit more confusing. "Nor History-- record it--/ As Legions of a Night/ The Sunrise scatters-- These endure--/ Enact-- and terminate--." I understood this stanza to mean that since nobody else knows about it there is no way to make history out of it and record the battle. Legions are army or battalions ready for battle. These last three lines were a little more confusing to me, but what I got from it was that the battle is endless and goes on into the night and never reaches the light of sunrise. This poem is about a battle is find who we are internally and discover our identity. It is a battle between the soul and the mind. This battle goes on within everyone one of us, and we do hide it away from the world so that nobody sees what is going on within us.
I concur with a lot of what Maddy said, especially in the first two stanzas. It is apparent that Dickinson is trying to explain to readers that the battles we have within ourselves are the greatest ones we will ever have. She also states that the battles are unknown to others when she states "No News of it is had abroad". I, however, also believe that we are not always aware of these battles because Dickinson says that they are "Invisible-Unknown". These two words could only be referring to the fact that no one else knows about the battles but it is an interesting idea to not know that a battle is occurring within us. In the last stanza, I believe that the first line, "Nor History-record it", refers to how these battles, the most important battles, are not written down for later reference. Not only are the battles not known to others but they will always remain that way because they are not recorded. The next two lines I find the most interesting: "As legions of a Night / The Sunrise scatters". Looking at the lines literally, it appears that the Sunrise is making the soldiers flee. This concept makes sense if one was to view the Sunrise as finding yourself or making an internal decision; basically, the end of the internal battle. In this case, the Night would represent the battle. With this interpretation, a new day represents a new view of life, understanding, or acceptance within a person. I am not positive about what the last line ("Enact-and terminate") are supposed to stand for. It may simply being saying that the Sunrise was able to end the battle.
DeleteI also agree that this poem is about the internal struggle between oneself and their soul. The poem makes it clear that the battle is only understood by each individual for themselves, and that it cannot be explained to anyone else. That is why there are "no News of it is had abroad" or "nor History-record it". Because no one is able to explain this struggle, there cannot be any way for people to have knowledge of it. Even though the poem talks about the internal conflict of merging with one's soul, it says, "The Battle fought between the Soul/ And No Man", which is saying that no one has had this struggle by saying "No Man". This goes along with how there is no evidence of this battle since it's saying that no man has ever gone through with the struggle. It is "Unknown", but assumed that it happens within people. The only part that confuses me is the last two lines, "The Sunrise scatters-These endure/ Enact- and terminate-". The only thing I am able to make out of it is that maybe any ideas that could be made about the battle have scattered into pieces and then came back together, only to be terminated. Maybe it's a sign that people aren't supposed to know about anyone's inner conflict with their soul.
Delete282:
ReplyDeleteI believe that the soul has the capacity to be many things “unto itself”. The soul can be its own friend or, on the contrary, its own spy that is sent by an enemy. The fact that the soul can take these many opposing forms reminds me of what Maddy was saying in her blog. I agree with Maddy’s idea that we all have this great internal battle within ourselves. This principle can also be seen in this poem by the various forms that the soul takes and the struggles that might arise from these different postings. It is also significant that Dickinson decided to capitalize the word “soul”. By doing so, Dickinson adds a humane character-like aspect to it. One thing that Dickinson admires about the soul is that whatever form it takes, it is genuine. This is why I believe that Dickinson says that the soul is “secure against its own” and cannot fear treason. If something is true to itself, then it cannot fear a charge of betrayal. Whatever the soul is, it is the “sovereign”. This goes back to Maddy’s idea of the inward struggle. The soul has so much power to be beneficial and destructive at the same time. Thus, the soul should be in awe of itself and its capabilities. This awe is out of the respect for and the fear of the soul’s omnipotent power.
I forgot to mention anything that I did not understand. In this poem, I had trouble deciphering the main idea of the poem. The language was relatively easy, but I kept wondering "Why did Dickinson write this?" and "What is she trying to say?".
DeleteI agree with Katie in that I also believe the soul has the capacity to be many things "unto itself". Where the soul can be its own friend and its own enemy. The soul has constant inner conflicts and this goes back to poem 246 and what Maddy said. She said that we all have great interior battles. I also agree with Katie when she says that the soul can be many different things, and when Dickinson capitalizes "Soul" she gives it a sort of human aspect. One thing I was confused about is when she starts the poem with "is an imperial friend/Or the most agonizing Spy" then says, "Secure against its own/No treason it can fear". How can it be its own spy, but not be susceptible to betrayal. If the soul can be many different things, than it should be susceptible to betrayal.
Delete95:
ReplyDeleteThe poem begins with "the Soul selects her own Society". I believe that society in this case means identity, because we have discussed that the soul is like our identity. After the soul selects its own identity it then "shuts the door to her divine Majority". I get confused by the divine Majority, but If i had to guess I would say that that the Majority is all the potential aspects and qualities the soul could retain. These characteristics also must be very special because they are described as divine. The soul do not allow anything else past the door, allowing no additions that could alter its identity. The soul is then described as "unmoved" or stuck in its ways. It is unmoved when "the Chariots" pause near the entrance of the soul. I think it is interesting that it is not just a Chariot, but the Chariots. I think that this means they are special chariots that carry the "divine Majority". The soul continues to be unmoved when an Emperor kneels at the mat of the door to the Soul. He is trying to gain entrance into the Soul. Next, I think the Emperor speaks when it says "I've known her-- from an ample nation--" Then, the Emperor asks the soul to choose one. I get confused by what the Emperor is asking the soul to choose from; I have a feeling it is either the Emperor or nothing, or the Emperor and something else. "Close the Valves of her attention"-- after the soul makes a decision, it must become set in its ways again and not pay attention to any other offers. It must be "like stone". I think this poem ties into what Katie was saying about the soul having capacity to be many things "unto itself". In this case the soul is trying to protect itself and limit itself to having a defined identity that does not change. If it is an always changing soul, then the identity means nothing, and it just goes along with the cycles in life. If it is set in its ways, then as the cycle continues forward, the soul remains like stone and can identify itself as something different.
#95
DeleteParker
I chose the poem that starts with " the soul selects her own society" and I agree with Karoline's idea the her own society actually means identity. The way I reached this conclusion was by looking at what the rest of the poem said. This women chooses her "society" or identity and then she shuts the door on the majority. I see majority to mean what society wants us to be like. She picks her "society" and that is what sets her apart from everyone else and then tells everyone else in civilization that she is going to change and she shuts the door on them. The second stanza I believe is society trying to convince her to open to door to the majority and try to change her "society". Civilization is bringing chariots and kneeling emperors to convince her, but she stays unmoved. Where I get confused is in the third stanza. Dickinson talks about how she knows this girl and how you can pick her. This is sort of confusing as I don’t know the values of her attention are like stone. I believe one way you can look at this is when civilization brings all these good things like chariots and emperors to convince her to become like everyone else she pays no attention to them as she as the attention qualities of a stone.
95
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this poem, I took "society" to literally mean a group of people at first. After reading it all the way through, I started thinking that it meant one person and that the poem was a strange way of talking about falling in love, but then the "divine Majority" part doesn't really make sense, like Karoline said. I hadn't thought of "society" as being "identity." When you look at this poem as a description of falling in love, the "Chariots" and the "emperor" stopping at the heart's gate could be other people trying to get to the heart, but the heart is "unmoved" by them. The last stanza repeats how the heart "choose[s] one" and then closes off her attention "like stone," which fits the falling in love idea. However, the tone of this poem suggests something much colder than how people tend to think of love. I suppose "society" could still be a set of people and that "choose one" at the end of the poem could mean choose one society and be closed to all other possibilities, but I still can't make sense of the "divine Majority," unless the sould is choosing an earthly "society" and choosing to ignore the possibility of God's "divine" company.
95
ReplyDeleteI think Dickinson used the Soul in the poem to portray herself. By seleting "her own Society",the soul has a choice, and that choice is not rational but rather backed by her own emotions. It isn't influenced by any outside force or person. When the Soul "souls the Door", her decision is made final in her mind by the "divine Majority" within her, which I think has proven itself to make decisions with age. In the second stanza, she notes that the things are "unmoved", meaning the Soul's decision is still final. Dickinson uses the contradiction of power and powerless to show that the Soul's choice was not influenced by anyone else. The "kneeling upon her mat" represents the powerless side, while "at her low gate" and the "Emperor" represent power. In the third stanza, the Soul obviously picks one out of many choices and stands with her descision. The Soul's descision is picked from "an ample nation" and there is a choosen one. This choice is set in stone. My interpretation of the poem differs a lot from the rest of the class that did #95. The second stanza was definatley the hardest to deciefer out of the whole poem.
95
DeleteIn simpler terms i think the poem is saying that the soul is selecting its own Identity and then I agree with Reagan where the soul is not letting the "majority" or the common thought effect or change its identity. In the second stanza, I beleive she uses "chariots" that I think represents the soul because chariots are beautiful and so are each persons soul. I think when she talks about being "unmoved" and the "emperor" she is saying that she does not want the power that an emperor has meaning that the soul is not selfish and self obsorbed. Then in the third stanza, I do not understand what the author means by an ample nation, but when she says "choose one" I belevie she is saying to choose a path that you want to take your life down and then don't look back on life and of what could have been. you need to make your decision firm and solid like a "stone".
#95
ReplyDeleteFor this poem, I said that the soul is the one who governs what type of life we are going to have. Once this is done, there is no changing it, and all the other opportunities are shut closed off. When looking up other meanings for majority, it also had an idiom for it, which means to die. I interpreted it as the soul’s only purpose once the doors have closed is to die and being present means she is no longer a part of society. As she is waiting for death, chariots appear to take her, but since it is at her low gate, I think it means that she is going to Hell instead of heaven, which doesn’t seem to bother her since she is unmoved by this action. Like Regan, I am not sure what the idea behind the Emperor kneeling at her Mat in the second stanza, but I said that in Hell she sees all types of people from all different societies in here, which again doesn’t bother her. In the last stanza, out of all the possibilities she has had available to her, it said she only chose one [society], and then she shut herself out from the rest; however, I don’t understand the “Like Stone.” After reading Regan’s, the poem is making a little bit more sense to me. I didn’t think about the possibility of selection being irrational and decided upon by emotions.
I agree with the majority of the analysis that is mentioned above, but I disagree about the meaning of “her” and “she” in the poem. “She” is the soul, not a woman. In the first line, society means the domain or body that the soul resides in. The majority that is mentioned applies only to the opinion of the soul, and Dickinson says that the soul is pleased with its selection when the poem says, “present no more.” The chariots that pause at the soul’s low gate are merely the choices that the soul passed on in the selection of the person that it now inhabits. The emperor kneeling on the mat is the most prestigious of the persons that the soul now ignores. Emily Dickinson is describing all souls, and uses her own as an example. Dickinson says that she knows her soul because it inhabits herself. The third stanza is where I am confused because it restates some of the themes from the first stanza. They may apply to a large decision in Dickinson’s own life where she turns inwards to her soul for assistance.
DeleteBristol
DeleteI agree with some of what the previous two comments said on this poem, but I found it to have a more pre-destination tone. The poem says that the soul selects her society and I found that to mean good or bad, or how the person possessing the soul will act in life. Once you are assigned this pre-destination, you are shut out from all other options and you are destined to become a good or bad person. This is why she shows no emotion in the second stanza. She has accepted the fact that she is going to either heaven or hell which is why she mentions the chariots, a Biblical reference for being taken up to heaven. By mentioning the chariots and using the word "divine" in the first stanza, it is clear that she believes she will go to heaven. I was unsure about the "low gate" that she talks about in the second stanza. The emperor in the second stanza is what she imagines heaven to be like because in the Bible, the loser now will be later to win which means that the poor on earth will be wealthy in their afterlife. The emperor would be an example of a wealthy man on earth, but he is pictured now kneeling for the soul in heaven.
Jack
ReplyDelete95
I agree with the posts that say "she" refers to the soul of every person rather than a specific woman. Dickinson uses the images of a shut door, a low gate, and closed valves to show that each person has the ability to chose who he or she wants to be with. Dickinson says, "The soul selects its own society" and that the soul can "chose one." Every person has the ability to deny their attemtion to anyone to chose, and they may give it to anyone the want.
246
ReplyDeleteThe battle between the soul and man, takes a look at the interlocking between our physical selves and the in touch relationship with our inner self. Emily Dickinson talks of the soul being separate from the body as an everlasting unit. She refers to the soul as a bodiless campaign, which is hidden referenced by the word invisible. She also says when the mind is asleep it is one, but when the sun rises and the mind wakes up the soul is scattered. When someone is asleep the mind is at whole for perfect harmony. She puts the soul at the standard of being awake and asleep however; it is the opposite in literal terms. She also puts this process as a battle however which I find interesting in that I would never think of the body and soul in a war.
558
ReplyDeleteI liked this poem because it connected directly to Whitman's idea of living one's life of their own and going through their life without the help from others. Dickinson talks about solitude and repeats herself multiple times to get her point across. She mentions the solitude of space, sea and death. I'm not exactly sure what they each mean exactly but it probably connects to the process of life. The last two lines are the most significant it helps explain the whole poem. She is using the Whitman theory about admitting one's life to their one and they will have "finite infinity". Finite infinity probably means that when you admit your soul to yourself then your life will have endless possibilities. This is different from having someone else lead your life because then you only have one option. That option is the one that that person is leading; not your own.