ll crown) (13), which is the symbol of her transformation from child to married woman. Sadness and resignation seem to be the focus of the fourth and final stanza. The speaker "A half unconscious Queen-" (16) does not see her life as a wife evolving beyond what her life as a child had. Having been under the control of her parents, her decision to marry will result in her being under the control of her husband. Fully aware of her prospects if she were to chose the alternative, she resigns herself to her decision as she states, "And I choose, just a Crown." (19) Although this poem runs only nineteen lines, Emily has successfully and eloquently revealed the sadness women endure from having to resign themselves to the fact they have only one true option in life once maturity is attained, marriage. I may be assuming too much but I believe this poem is in essence Emily's way of expressing her views towards the issue of marriage in her own life. Emily was celibate her entire life and had a very few friends, she may have refused to give in to social pressures and remained a spinster in order to spite the rest of the world. One may reasonably conclude that the speaker in this melancholy poem may have indeed been speaking for Emily herself. ...
