This is my April 1st work. Here are the two poems I’m comparing.

Dickinson 466:
I dwell in Possibility –
A fairer House than Prose –
More numerous of Windows –
Superior – for Doors –

Of Chambers as the Cedars –
Impregnable of eye –
And for an everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky –

Of Visitors – the fairest –
For Occupation – This –
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise –

Dickinson 473:
I was the slightest in the House —
I took the smallest Room —
At night, my little Lamp, and Book —
And one Geranium —

So stationed I could catch the Mint
That never ceased to fall —
And just my Basket —
Let me think — I’m sure —
That this was all —

I never spoke — unless addressed —
And then, ’twas brief and low —
I could not bear to live — aloud —
The Racket shamed me so —

And if it had not been so far —
And any one I knew
Were going — I had often thought
How noteless — I could die —


The first two stanzas can be immediately connected. In 466, Dickinson states that “she dwell[s] in Possibility”, but in 473, she is the “slightest in the House”. This would imply that the House and Possibility are separate, and that Dickinson may be physically present in the House, but really lives in Possibility. Assuming Possibility in this case is something akin to “imagination” or “thought”, the reader can assume that Dickinson means she prefers living in her thoughts to real life.

The contrast between the House and Possibility deepens in the following lines. In 466, Dickinson describes Possibility as a fantastical place, that is also “Impregnable of eye” — meaning eyes cannot perceive it (which is all the more reason why it is in her head!). The House’s description is based on her experiences, she “never spoke — unless addressed” and “could not bear to live — aloud”.

With this chain of analysis, these two poems almost appear to be written to accompany each other. Without the ability to obtain Dickinson’s thoughts on the matter, the reader will never know the answer.

This is my April 1st work (Jacob Lertora)

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