Introduction
In “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” and “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” Emily Dickinson raises the theme of closeness and anonymity of the soul. In other words, according to the poetess, not revealing oneself, one’s motives, and feelings is a guarantee of perseverance, honor, and strength. However, the theme of loneliness is not sung here; the soul should not be alone. Far from status, position in society is a reason to let a person into one’s soul. The more hidden theme of these two poems is love or sympathy, mental kinship, as the only reason for the possibility of opening one’s soul.
Analysis of “The Soul Selects Her Own Society”
In “The Soul Selects Her Own Society,” Emily Dickinson already postulates closeness in the title. The first and second stanzas confirm this: even “an Emperor be kneeling” does not cause any movement in her (Dickinson, The Soul Selects Her Own Society, line 7). Origin is not the point here, although the poet emphasizes that the soul is from an “ample nation” (Dickinson, The Soul Selects Her Own Society, line 9).
She suggests “choose one” (Dickinson, The Soul Selects Her Own Society, line 10) and closing again. This theme means that the soul should not be alone and should not choose a companion or guest according to the beauty of the chariots or kneeling. Although the poetess does not explicitly indicate love, choosing the only companion in life is often associated with marriage.
Analysis of “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?”
In “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” The theme of the closeness of the soul is manifested symbolically. By weaving in a similar oxymoron that denies a name and uses the word “nobody” for a person, Dickinson highlights the inconsistency and complexity of such a state. However, she counters that subtlety with boredom—”How dreary” (Dickinson, I’m Nobody! Who Are You? line 5)—which she thinks is even worse. The love here is even more hidden in an alleged dialogue in the first stanza when addressing “Are you – Nobody – too?” (Dickinson, I’m Nobody! Who Are You? line 2). The following line is an invitation to joint action, confirming that a person needs a person, and the soul needs a soul.
Conclusion
Consequently, these two poems, in different forms, represent the primary states of the proud closedness of the soul, which, nevertheless, always needs another soul. If “The Soul Selects, Her Own Society” makes this more explicit, emphasizing that the gate should only be opened once, then “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” uses more symbolic language and covert theme-demonstration techniques such as oxymorons and appeals. Even though this topic seems to be associated with negative emotions, Dickenson’s language emphasizes instead the bright power of anonymity, which only decorates a person.
Works Cited
Dickinson, Emily. “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”. 1864. Poets. Web.
Dickinson, Emily. “The Soul Selects Her Own Society”. 1862. Poets. Web.