There's a solitude of space (1695) by Emily Dickinson

Full Text

There's a solitude of space
A solitude of sea
A solitude of death, but these
Society shall be
Compared with that profounder site
That polar privacy
A soul admitted to itself –
Finite infinity.

Overview

Dickinson ranks solitudes: space, sea, and death are nothing compared to being alone with yourself. "Finite infinity" captures the paradox—the self is small but contains endlessness. "Polar privacy" suggests both geographic isolation and the icy extremity of introspection. Society with others is nothing compared to solitude within.

Line-by-Line Analysis

Lines 1-4

Three cosmic solitudes (space, sea, death) are dismissed as "Society" compared to what follows. Even death has company compared to the soul's aloneness.

Lines 5-8

"A soul admitted to itself"—allowed entry, forced to face what's there. "Finite infinity" is Dickinson's signature paradox: smallness containing vastness.

Themes

• Solitude gradations
• Self-knowledge as isolation
• Infinity within limits
• The privacy of consciousness

Literary Devices

Oxymoron

"Finite infinity" — The bounded contains the boundless—consciousness is limited but inexhaustible.

Anaphora

"A solitude of... A solitude of" — Repetition builds the list to be dismissed, emphasizing what exceeds them.

Historical Context

Written in Dickinson's later period, when her withdrawal from society was complete. The poem reads as defense: chosen solitude isn't deprivation but exploration of the most difficult terrain—the self.