Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CHOICE by EMILY DICKINSON

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: OF ALL THE SOULS THAT STAND CREATE
Last Line: TO ALL THE LISTS OF CLAY!
Subject(s): DESIRE; LOVE; LOVE - MARITAL; WEDDED LOVE; MARRIAGE - LOVE;
Of all the souls that stand create
I have elected one.
When sense from spirit files away,
And subterfuge is done;
When that which is and that which was
Apart, intrinsic, stand,
And this brief tragedy of flesh
Is shifted like a sand;
When figures show their royal front
And mists are carved away, --
Behold the atom I preferred
To all the lists of clay!


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