I Dwell in Possibility

I took the poem "I Dwell in Possibility" by strophes to reach my conclusion of the "dashes."

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

In this strophe I feel that Emily Dickinson is using the dashes to link together the idea of the "Possibilities." The dash almost serves as a list, or elaboration to the topic of possibilities. Usually in writing, people use commas to elaborate (or parenthesis, such as I am now) on an idea. Sometimes commas (in my opinion) can be replaced by dashes or parenthesis to still get the same desired effect. In this strophe, she is making a list of the possibilities and comparing those to a grand house as opposed to a "Prose" -- a boring, mundane life. Windows and doors are significant of possibilities as well, because they can be ajar, closed, walked through, seen through... etc. If I were to replace this with commas, the ideas would still link.

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

I had to look up "the Cedars" to get a better reference to this, and the internet came up with cedar being a nice kind of wood. I'll take the entire first line of this strophe as very lavish chambers. The sky is her limit, or the everlasting roof, and anything she imagines is greater what the eye can see. Again, adding to the possibilities. The dashes here all connect the ideas of her imagination being vivid and limitless.

Of Visitors--the fairest--
For Occupation--This--
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise--

Emily then takes in everything (The spreading wide my narrow Hands), and she mentions visitors that all come to see her in this imaginary world, her world of "possibility."

These em-dashes are reflective of Emily's meaning of the poem. Possibility is the theme of the poem, and here in the poem she is referring to her imaginative power in poetry to write differently. Of course, when a reader views this poem, he or she will notice the dashes placed in random spots. Near the end of a line where indenting the next line almost substitutes as a dash, Emily still includes one. Often, she breaks thought between lines also to dramatically emphasize how maybe the poem is read or felt. The picture is much more vivid, but the style of writing the poem introduces the possibilities of writing poetry -- it is not bound by period, commas, semicolons.