Emily

The Soul selects her own Society —
Then — shuts the Door —
To her divine Majority —
Present no more —

Unmoved — she notes the Chariots — pausing —
At her low Gate —
Unmoved — an Emperor be kneeling
Upon her Mat —

I've known her — from an ample nation —
Choose One —
Then — close the Valves of her attention —
Like Stone —

c. 1862

“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold
 no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically 
as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These 
are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way.”                                               

—	Emily Dickinson sets the bar high, in a letter to Thomas Higginson.