“They Shut Me up in Prose” may not be among Emily Dickinson’s most celebrated poems – it doesn’t quite rival the likes of “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”, “Hope is the thing with feathers”, or “A narrow Fellow in the Grass” – but it is certainly worth exploring. Its compelling opening line often captures attention, and few poets have mastered the art of a suggestive beginning quite like Dickinson. Below is a detailed analysis of “They Shut Me up in Prose”.
Summary
They shut me up in Prose —
As when a little Girl
They put me in the Closet —
Because they liked me ‘still’ —
In the context of Emily Dickinson’s poem, prose can be interpreted as masculine, while poetry is often seen as feminine – at least within the outdated binary framework that Dickinson would have been familiar with, having grown up in a Calvinist household in mid-nineteenth century New England. Prose is the medium through which writers engage with serious subjects: political treatises, biblical texts, and legal documents. Conversely, poetry is associated with emotion and imagination, often perceived as a more whimsical and capricious pursuit. This binary oversimplifies the relationship between the two forms, disregarding the weighty matters poetry can address.
Still! Could themself have peeped —
And seen my Brain — go round —
They might as wise have lodged a Bird
For Treason — in the Pound —
In the second stanza, the speaker conveys a sense of mockery towards the notion that she could ever be confined. If those who sought to restrict her could gaze into her mind and witness the flurry of thoughts racing within, they would realize the absurdity of their attempts to confine her, akin to trying to imprison a bird in a pound for the imagined crime of treason. This analogy underscores the futility of attempting to suppress her spirit, as a bird would effortlessly escape from confinement.
Himself has but to will
And easy as a Star
Abolish his Captivity —
And laugh — No more have I —
In the poem’s conclusion, the idea of the bird (presumably referred to by “Himself”) effortlessly willing its escape serves as a metaphor for the speaker’s own liberation. The imagery of the bird laughing at its ability to break free from captivity, as easily as a star traverses the night sky, reflects the speaker’s own perception of her potential to transcend limitations with a mere act of will.
Analysis
Literary critic Helen Vendler draws an insightful parallel between “They Shut Me up in Prose” and another of Dickinson’s poems, “I dwell in Possibility”. The latter opens with the lines:
I dwell in Possibility –
A fairer House than Prose –
In these lines, “Prose” is depicted as mundane and restrictive, a sentiment echoed in “They Shut Me up in Prose”. The next three lines provide further clues to the connections between poetry and femininity:
- As when a little Girl
- They put me in the Closet —
- Because they liked me ‘still’ —
The term “Girl” stands out here, awkwardly paired with “still” – itself emphasized by the quotation marks. Prose serves as a means to enforce conformity upon young girls, ensuring they are “seen and not heard”, as the old adage goes. One of the poem’s remarkable triumphs is how Dickinson conveys one message while her verse simultaneously undermines it: she claims, “They shut me up in Prose”, yet expresses this sentiment in a form that defies confinement.
“Prose” and “Closet” may not be perfect rhymes, creating a sense of incompleteness rather than the satisfaction of a lock clicking shut. Similarly, “Girl” and “still” also resist full rhyme, maintaining a tension that keeps the poem from collapsing into either the dullness of prose or the chaos of free verse. Dickinson’s innovative use of pararhyme, or half-rhyme, creates an auditory connection between words that feel close yet distinct. The sounds of “Girl” and “still” draw near, their final “l” sounds binding them together, but “Girl” continues to wriggle free from any limitations.
It’s essential to recognize that Dickinson isn’t merely exploring the relationship between gender and writing; she highlights the unique struggles female writers face compared to their male counterparts.
An Autobiographical Poem?
To what extent can “They Shut Me up in Prose” be considered autobiographical, reflecting Dickinson’s personal experiences and feelings about her childhood? During her lifetime, Emily Dickinson was better known for her gardening than her poetry; she published only a handful of her works, with most emerging posthumously after her death in 1886. It was not uncommon for girls of her era to be discouraged from pursuing writing.
Additionally, Dickinson’s own upbringing was far from nurturing: her parents lacked artistic inclinations, and her strict religious background likely fostered feelings of confinement from an early age. The opening line carries a deliberate double meaning: “They shut me up in Prose” signifies both “they imprison me in a world of dullness” and “they silence me with their mundane lectures and sermons”.
Yet, Emily Dickinson cannot be silenced. Had they peered into her mind and witnessed her creative brilliance, they would have understood that attempting to confine her was as futile as trying to imprison a bird in a pound for the nonsensical charge of treason. Just as a bird can easily escape confinement, so too can Dickinson’s imagination soar freely, unimpeded by the constraints imposed upon her.
Form
“They Shut Me up in Prose” is predominantly written in iambic trimeter, a rhythmic structure comprising three iambs (a metrical foot of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable) in each line: “They SHUT me UP in PROSE – / As WHEN a LIT-tle GIRL”.