Dickinson (USA)
The soul chooses its mate,
Then close the door;
Her sacred decision,
No more interference.
She listened to the chariot indifferently,
Parked in front of her low door;
She was indifferent to letting an emperor,
Kneel on her straw mat.
I know she comes from a populous country,
One is selected;
From then on, close the heart valve,
Like a stone.
(translated by Zhang Yun)
/kloc-The American literary world in the second half of the 9th century paid attention to Christian Puritanism, and Dickinson was the only poet who dared to write love poems frankly at that time. Her Soul Choosing a Partner vividly expresses a lovely "soul"-the mentality of lovers after choosing their own "partner" with clear and easy-to-understand language and vivid images.
At the beginning of the article, the poet comes straight to the point and presents the theme of the whole poem-"the soul chooses its own partner" to the readers. And once she made a decision, she closed someone else's door and made up her mind.
Furthermore, the poet took advantage of her indifference to the gorgeous "car parked in front of her door"; The noble "Emperor Kneeling on the Straw Mat" used these two images, both as a powerful person sitting in a chariot and as the supreme monarch, to set off her determination. Born in a noble family and prominent position can't make her-"soul" tempted in a simple room. Here, the poet uses two words "she is indifferent ..." to form a parallelism sentence to emphasize the firmness of the "soul" attitude, so that readers can understand her deep loyalty and passionate feelings for love through her unmoved behavior in the face of the temptation of money and status. Only these are the immortal sources of the "soul" to resist any temptation.
Because she chose a bosom friend from all sentient beings, and this choice is sacred above all else. As the saying goes, this heart is rock solid, so what else in this world can change her?
Dickinson's poems are always concise. She is good at condensing infinite thoughts into limited poems. The soul chooses only a few dozen partners, but it fully expresses her rich emotional world and serious love view. Moreover, what deserves our praise is that she is good at concretizing extremely abstract concepts through changeable metaphors and novel images. The use of "soul" in this poem is an example. The abstract noun "soul" contains the meaning of "thought and soul", as Lucretius said in "On Matter": "Soul cannot exist independently without human body." The "soul" in the poem refers to a living person full of love, so since "love is the nature of the soul", it is not appropriate to discuss love with "soul".
Dickinson's use of "soul" is a wonderful pen. Through the action of "soul"-lovers, readers can understand the poet's thoughts and sentiments of loyalty to love and the love vows hidden in the heart of this outstanding American poetess.