The Soul That Hath a Guest

The Soul That Hath a Guest - fact Summary

First Printed in 1896

This short lyric by Emily Dickinson was first published in 1896 in Poems by Emily Dickinson. It presents a compact image of the inner life as a hospitable realm: when the soul entertains an exalted guest, it rarely leaves home because its inward "diviner crowd" cancels outside needs. The poem frames inward attention and reverence as a polite, almost ceremonial withholding from the world.