A never-ending bowl

Emily Dickinson’s “I dwell in Possibility” uses the uncommon em-dash in a seemingly nonchalant way. She structures her poems in a way, through the use of the em-dash to create a seemingly endless poem. Rather than using periods to complete a thought and signify a new idea, she leads the reader line to line fluidly, connecting each idea with a secondary idea or thought, before returning to her main topic. The use of the em-dash in this sense is as a unique divider that both separates and adds on to the previous phrase.

“I dwell in Possibility—
A fairer House than Prose—
More numerous of Windows—
Superior—for Doors—”

Here the idea of subordinating ideas can be seen clearly. Her first thought is about thinking in the realm of all that is possible, but before going on to explain why she does or what she’s doing in that realm, she adds on a secondary thought that Possibility is greater than Prose. Again, before continuing back to her main idea, she breaks off again to explain why this house is fairer than Prose with a phrase separated by em-dashes. Because each short phrase is related to the previous, she links them together continuing the thought.

“Of Chambers as the Cedars—
Impregnable of Eye—
And for an Everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky—”

Again, all the separations link easily back to a previous idea. They are subordinate. Dickinson continues to describe the House of Possibility; the Chambers of the House must be invisible, while the roof should be made of heavenly Gambrels.

“Of visitors—the fairest—
For Occupation—This—
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise—”

These last few em-dashes seem to continue the idea of secondary idea connectors. The visitors that come to the house are the fairest, while the occupation is a collecting of literary Paradise. Interestingly, she ends with an em-dash. It signifies that she hasn’t completed her original thought, the one that began in line one, “I dwell in Possibility.” Here the em-dash might serve a different purpose, one of continuance. Without a finite ending to the poem, one that could be shown with a period, her opening line rings true. Anything is possible, because nothing has been completed.

Overall, Dickinson’s poem describes her choice of writing in poetry over prose and the reasoning behind it. She sees poetry as limitless opportunities. The many “Windows,” mean the many options a poet has, while the impregnability describes the ambiguity given in a poem versus prose. The em-dashes perfectly compliment those ideas; in no prose would such usage of em-dashes be regular, in no prose would the em-dash be open for meaningful interpretation. Dickinson uses the em-dashes to effectively prove her point, the same point about which she writes.