I Gave Myself To Him Poem by Emily Dickinson

I Gave Myself To Him

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I gave myself to Him—
And took Himself, for Pay,
The solemn contract of a Life
Was ratified, this way—

The Wealth might disappoint—
Myself a poorer prove
Than this great Purchaser suspect,
The Daily Own—of Love

Depreciate the Vision—
But till the Merchant buy—
Still Fable—in the Isles of Spice—
The subtle Cargoes—lie—

At least—'tis Mutual—Risk—
Some—found it—Mutual Gain—
Sweet Debt of Life—Each Night to owe—
Insolvent—every Noon—

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Kate Schules 04 April 2007

Is she talking about having prostituted herself?

3 13 Reply
Oofgod 11 March 2019

this I need concrete words none of this wishy washy.

1 0 Reply
aaannnoo 18 November 2017

it is very nice, she talks about the marriage in her time and explore the tradition of it.

0 1 Reply
* Sunprincess * 24 September 2015

........very nice, and most interesting theme ★

1 4 Reply
Chloe P. 22 November 2013

The poem revolves around the subject of love and marriage. First you must understand the traditions of marriage in the 19th century; they were mostly made out of convenience not love. Here dickinson is exploring the nature of mutual commitment and that until the promise has been made the 'value' of the transaction cannot be fully assessed. However, I do agree this is one of Dickinson's more lucid poems. The 'sweet debt' is the debt she pays to her husband (having sex) , but the oxymoron of 'sweet' is that she can may as well enjoy it.

9 2 Reply
Lexi B 29 March 2010

Noo shes talking about giving herself to her husband, and as her pay she got him. then she talks about the rich saying it wasnt a great investment of her time, but shes saying yes it was its the sweet debt of life.

10 2 Reply
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Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson

Amherst / Massachusetts
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