Sweet Safe Houses

Sweet Safe Houses

Society comprises mainly of two groups: the affluent and the miserable. It is believed to be highly inappropriate for the upper class to mingle with the lesser of the kind. Emily Dickinson mocks those people who consider it below their dignity to allow for the aroma from outside entering into their lives.

The houses in the poem are “sweet” and “safe”, which account for the fact that they aren’t simply means of shelter, but good strong houses. They don’t lack any amenities and are “glad” and “gay”, thus prosperous. These accommodations seem to be completely isolated from the destitute, locking their “bare feet” out. They are “sealed stately tight”, preventing the impurities from outside from penetrating through into the highly sterilized territory.

For most people, it is beyond their financial abilities to attend to the luxury inside their houses. Instead, they would be practical and focus on other basic requirements such as bread...