#POEM CALLED THE DASH FULL#

The long dash at the end of this line may be completing the thought that Emily's soul will not leave Susan or it may be a subconscious act on Emily's part to show the bold emotions associated with her platonic love for Susan. 'Doth seldom go abroad-' can be analyzed as meaning that her heart will not wander or leave because it is already filled with love. Emily's heart carried Susan within it and seemingly only had room for her. 'The Soul that hath a Guest' is obviously referring to Emily's heart having Sue within it this is apparent because the poem was found within a letter to Susan. Susan and Emily were extremely close in their friendship, almost 'soul sisters' in a sense. However, it is also possible that these dashes were used in a more emotional state.

#POEM CALLED THE DASH FULL#

This may be due to Dickinson completing a full thought, such as a soul with a guest, or the end of the entire poem at first glance. The large dashes, or the dashes that seem to convey more emotion, are placed after the second line and the ending line. Upon analyzing this poem's use of punctuation, it is easy to see the different lengths of the dash at the end of the lines. Any punctuation errors within the poem are also included within my transcription. For a short dash in Emily's poem, I will be using a '-' dash and for a longer or bolder dash, I will be using a '-' dash. There are several dashes in the poem to examine. This poem was found written in a letter to Susan, her best friend.

The first poem worth looking at is 'The Soul that hath a Guest' by Emily Dickinson. I will be including the links to the original manuscripts as well as transcribing them exactly as they are here on this pager in order to grasp the use of the dash in a better context. And be grateful we aren’t in that ditch.When viewing the use of the dash in Emily's poetry, it is important to see the work exactly as Emily wrote it in order to see how the dash was used in its original context. But I have always felt that anyone is just three bad decisions away from being in real trouble and maybe we should be a little more mindful of what we have and what we can give back. “Sure, ok, that’s all very well” I hear you cry, “but are you really going to stop chasing the rainbow?”Īlmost certainly not, after all I have responsibilities to my people and my family. One line beyond all others resonated with me: ‘For it matters not, how much we own, the cars…the house…the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.’ At the funeral a beautiful poem called ‘The Dash’ was read. But we have a roof over our heads, our kids are warm and fed and except for the odd one in five, we don’t need to get comatose to survive the day.Īs it turns out I was collecting my Mum to attend the funeral of a dear family friend. Our lives are full of stress – too much stress – and so much of it is self-made. But what does it make those who didn’t stop to help? Are we so busy or important? Or scared? I checked he hadn’t been hit by a car and called 999 for help. This guy was clearly drunk, disoriented and in all kinds of distress. The five or so cars in front drove on and for a second, I thought about the doing the same. As I was driving the other day, I noticed what at first, I thought was the victim of a hit and run lying in a ditch by the side of the road.

Poem called the dash