Emily Dickinson

Exclusion (The soul selects her own society)

The soul selects her own society, Then shuts the door; On her divine majority Obtrude no more. Unmoved, she notes the chariot's pausing At her low gate; Unmoved, an emperor is kneeling Upon her mat. I've known her from an ample nation Choose one Then close the valves of her attention Like stone. Composition Date: ca. 1862. Form: abcb (off-rhyme) 3. On: the existing manuscript version of poem 303, The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson, edited by R. W. Franklin in two volumes (Cambridge, Mass. , and London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1981: I, 450\; PS 1541 A1 1981 ROBA), reads "To". 4. Obtrude: the existing manuscript version reads "Present". 5. chariot's: the existing manuscript version reads "chariots". 7. is: the existing manuscript version reads "be".