I dwell in Possibility —
A fairer House than Prose —
More numerous of Windows —
Superior — for Doors —

Of Chambers as the Cedars —
Impregnable of Eye —
And for an Everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky —

Of Visitors — the fairest —
For Occupation — This —
The spreading wide of narrow Hands
To gather Paradise —

Analysis, meaning and summary of Emily Dickinson's poem I dwell in Possibility —

9 Comments

  1. Layman Lei 雷人 says:

    I am tryig to put this poem into Chinese.I found the word “possibility” is rather difficut to translate.Ofcouse the imagination of the writer is nice. Layman 雷

  2. zeoy says:

    i hate this poem its boring

  3. meginiowa says:

    It might be of interest to some readers and commenters to know that, as was the fashion of period, Ms. Dickinson was what her contemporaries referred to as an “opium eater.” I believe this explains, in large part, her isolatory nature and, also, the spiritual content in much of her work. Taking opiates is often a quest for the euphoria and bliss promised by so many religions and their practitioners. Opium does produce feelings of euphoria e.g. to gather paradise, etc.

  4. Trot says:

    if you actually believe that emily dickinson was a recluse, simply because that’s the only thing you’ve heard about her, you need to crack a book cuz that is straight ignorant,

  5. Geoff says:

    Why do you think she chose such a dark word as “gambrels?”

  6. Lynn Dawson says:

    I love this poem. It has so many applications — spiritual, mental, physical, etc. Instead of dwelling on the impossible we should put ourselves in a place where the impossible is very much a possibility. Even if the impossible is not reached we will go further than we could have ever imagined possible.

  7. susy lu says:

    possibility is a term to describe emily’s unlimited possibilty in her house, this was self inflicted confinement adn not the result of opression.

  8. Kailee says:

    this poem is one of my favorites of emily’s. i love all of her work, but do have my favorites. I love her writing, to me it is really inspiring.

  9. tonya james says:

    i really like this poem it is a great poem i don’t know why nobody took the time to leave a very nice comment i am glad that i was the first one to be able to post it up here on the web i would have never have read it if it weren’t for this progect i am doing on emily. she sounds like a very nice lady who has a very nice life although she isn’t here anymore i just want to say that you wrote very nice poems and i wish you were still here to write more of the poems that you write.

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