One need not be a Chamber to be Haunted

‘One need not be a Chamber to be Haunted’ is a five-stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines, also known as quatrains. The lines do not follow a specific or consistent pattern of rhyme. Instead, they are unified through a variety of half and full lines. For instance, the second and fourth lines of stanzas two, three, and five ends with full rhymes. The same lines in stanzas one and four are only half-rhymes, both rhyme with a consonant sound, also known as consonance. 

One need not be a chamber to be haunted
Emily Dickinson

One need not be a chamber to be haunted,One need not be a house;The brain has corridors surpassingMaterial place.

Far safer, of a midnight meetingExternal ghost,Than an interior confrontingThat whiter host.

Far safer through an Abbey gallop,The stones achase,Than, moonless, one's own self encounterIn lonesome place.

Ourself, behind ourself concealed,Should startle most;Assassin, hid in our apartment,Be horror's least.

The prudent carries a revolver,He bolts the door,O'erlooking a superior spectreMore near.

Summary

The poem begins with the speaker stating that the human mind can become haunted much more easily than a room or house can. They have a greater capacity for absorbing experiences and a larger number of “Corridors” where something could lurk.

Throughout the next lines, Dickinson’s speaker addresses the difference between physical and mental threats. One can run from, defend against, or defeat real-world threats. The ones inside the human mind are less easily accessible. This does not make them less dangerous though, in fact, that present a greater threat due to their invisibility.

Meter and Tone

In regards to meter, the lines do not conform to any particular metric pattern. They vary in length, but the second and fourth lines are always shorter than the first and third. These lines range from two syllables to six. Lines one and three contain somewhere between eleven and eight syllables. 

The tone of this piece is quite foreboding. The speaker builds up fear, line after line, of what might lurk within one’s mind. It is only enhanced through the use of Dickinson’s characteristic dashes. They appear at the end of more than half of the lines, and feature in the middle of a number as well.

 

Dickinson’s Dashes and Capitalization 

Scholars are divided over what this intermittent punctuation could mean. But in this case, the dashes are easily read as moments in which the speaker was overwhelmed or facing some fear she didn’t know how to articulate. The pauses represent her own hesitation to continue. It is also a way for the reader, speaker, and even Dickinson herself, to gather thoughts together before moving on to the next, even more harrowing line.  

One should also consider the use of capitalization in these lines. This is another technique that Dickinson is known for, and it causes confusion among students and scholars alike. There is no single definitive reason why Dickinson capitalized on the words she did. Often, the words she chose were the most prominent of the lines, the ones that were the most evocative and meaningful. This appears to be the case in ‘One need not be a Chamber to be Haunted‘ as well. 

Analysis of One need not be a Chamber to be Haunted

Stanza One 

One need not be a chamber to be haunted,
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place.

In the first stanza of this piece, the speaker begins by utilizing the line that would later stand in as a title for the poem. She is speaking on one’s own ability to be “Haunted” even if they aren’t a room. A human being can contain powerful ghosts, just as a house can. In The next two lines expand on this idea and suggest that humankind actually has a greater capacity to be haunted than a house does. The brain, she states, “has Corridors.” These are so numerous, they far “surpass” those of “Material Place.” 

This also speaks to one’s experiences. As a relatively free-moving creature, a human being is able to see, take in and live through a greater variety of events than could ever take place in a  single room. This gives a “ghost” or an internal demon, plenty of places to take hold. 

Stanza Two 

Far safer, of a midnight meeting
External ghost,
Than an interior confronting
That whiter host.

In the next four lines the speaker states that if one were to choose, they should take their chances with an “external Ghost.” It is far more dangerous to meet at “Midnight” with something from within one’s own mind. These are the encounters that can truly damage someone. The damage would come from a run-in with “That Cooler Host” on the inside of one’s body. 

It is clear the speaker finds something scarier about one’s own personal demons than anything one could find in the physical world. She paints the human mind as something that is infinitely uninviting. It’s not somewhere that one would want to spend too much time, especially alone.

Stanza Three 

Far safer through an Abbey gallop,
The stones achase,
Than, moonless, one’s own self encounter
In lonesome place.

In the third stanza, the speaker goes on to refer to galloping “through an Abbey” as being a much safer thing to do. One would be better off doing this than pursuing the depths of their own mind.

 The reasoning behind the difference is that one can run from physical dangers. These mental ghosts which the speaker is so worried about can not be escaped. There is nowhere for one to regroup, arm oneself or gain protection. It would be just like meeting oneself in a “lonesome Place.”

 

Stanza Four

Ourself, behind ourself concealed,
Should startle most;
Assassin, hid in our apartment,
Be horror’s least.

The fourth stanza of ‘One need not be a Chamber to be Haunted’ follows the same kind of pattern as the previous three. The first two lines address the speaker’s real fear and the second the lesser fears of physical life. She states that one needs to be concerned about “Ourself behind ourself.” This is a very simple way of addressing the parts of oneself that are not always clear. These bits and pieces are the darkest, most malevolent parts of our nature. They stem from resolved and unresolved experiences. 

The speaker contrasts that kind of darkness with the usually more easily understood darkness of an “Assassin hid in our Apartment.” 

Stanza Five 

The prudent carries a revolver,
He bolts the door,
O’erlooking a superior spectre
More near.

In the final four lines, the speaker compares how one is physically able, with their body, to “borrow a Revolver.” They can “bolt the Door” and try to fight off an assassin or other intruder. This is not the case for one’s deeper fears. These are the “superior spectres” or as the poem spookily concludes, “More.” 

It is very possible that one’s own demons will not even take the form of a spectre. They could be so deep that they become totally invisible. Essentially the speaker is asking the reader how they intend to arm and defend themselves against something that is intrinsic to their own existence and is fundamentally invisible.