“They have not chosen me,” he said,
“But I have chosen them!”
Brave — Broken hearted statement —
Uttered in Bethlehem!
I could not have told it,
But since Jesus dared —
Sovereign! Know a Daisy
They dishonor shared!
“They have not chosen me,” he said,
Analysis, meaning and summary of Emily Dickinson's poem “They have not chosen me,” he said,
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They would refer not to hi followers but to everyone else. Jesus has chosen humanity (incarnation). To whom is this said? To humans in Bethlehem, not to his Father. Sovereign would mean Father. “Know a Daisy/They dishonor shared” would be — know that the one they did not choose shared himself (“I have chosen them”). This is tragic: brave and broken-hearted.
[MY PERSONAL INTERPRETATION IS IN BRACKETS BELOW EACH LINE]
They have not chosen me,” he said,
“But I have chosen them!”
[JESUS’ FOLLOWERS DO NOT CHOSE HIM FIRST; PEOPLE FOLLOW JESUS BECAUSE HE FIRST CHOSES & EMPOWERS THEM.]
Brave—Broken hearted statement—
Uttered in Bethlehem!
[A Brave Statement Because: JESUS WAS VERY BOLD TO TELL HIS FOLLOWERS THAT IF IT WERE NOT FOR HIS CHOOSING THEM, HIS DISCIPLES WOULD NEVER CHOOSING TO FOLLOW HIM.]
[A Broken-Hearted Statement Because: JESUS WAS BORN, EXPRESSING HIS COMPASSIONATE HEART, AS HE CAME TO BETHLEHEM TO LATER BE BROKEN FOR OUR SINS AT HIS CRUCIFIXION.]
I could not have told it,
But since Jesus dared—
Sovereign! Know a Daisy
They dishonor shared!
[EMILY DICKINSON COULD NOT HAVE SHARED THE STORY OF JESUS WITH US, BUT SINCE HER SOVEREIGN LORD JESUS DID, SHE WANTS US TO KNOW THIS: THE PEOPLE OF THIS EARTH WHO SHARED LIFE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST AND THEN REJECTED HIM — DISHONORED A LOVELY FLOWER. IT WAS A DAISY THEY SHARED AND DISHONORED.