Emily Dickinson

I came to buy a smile to-day

I CAME to buy a smile to-day
But just a single smile,
The smallest one upon your cheek
Will suit me just as well,

Diminishment strategy

She keeps minimizing what she wants: 'just a single,' 'smallest one,' 'no one else would miss,' 'so very small.' Classic negotiating tactic—or the desperation of someone who expects to be refused.

The one that no one else would miss
It shone so very small—
I'm pleading at the counter, Sir,

Commercial transaction metaphor

The whole poem is structured as a marketplace negotiation—she's literally at a counter trying to purchase something emotional. Notice how 'afford' works both ways: can he spare the smile, and can she pay the price?

Could you afford to sell?

Jewelry catalog

She lists her payment like a merchant's inventory: diamonds (hardest substance), rubies (blood-colored), topaz (star-bright). Each gem escalates in metaphorical weight—from wealth to life to heaven.

I've diamonds on my fingers—
You know what diamonds are!
I've rubies like the evening blood,
And topaz like the star!
'T would be a bargain for a Jew—

Anti-Semitic stereotype

The 'Jew' reference invokes the 19th-century stereotype of Jewish merchants as shrewd bargainers. She's saying even the toughest negotiator would recognize this as a good deal—deeply problematic language that reveals period prejudices.

Formal distance

She calls him 'Sir' three times in this short poem. That formal address creates distance even as she's begging for intimacy. The politeness is part of the pain.

Say, may I have it, Sir?
Source Wikipedia Poetry Foundation

Reading Notes

The Economics of Affection

Dickinson turns emotional need into a commercial transaction, complete with counter, inventory, and price negotiation. The metaphor does specific work: it makes desire measurable and tradeable, which should make it obtainable. If she can name her price, she should be able to buy what she wants.

But notice the paradox built into the conceit. She offers diamonds, rubies, topaz—precious stones that represent wealth, life (blood), and celestial beauty (stars). These are maximum-value payments for a minimum request ("the smallest smile"). The exchange rate is absurd. She's offering everything for almost nothing, which means either the smile is actually priceless, or she's in no position to negotiate.

The 'pleading' gives it away. You don't plead with a merchant—you negotiate. The commercial frame collapses under the weight of actual desperation. She's not really shopping; she's begging while pretending to shop, trying to preserve dignity through the fiction of fair exchange.

What to Notice in the Language

CONTEXT Dickinson wrote around 1858, during her most socially active period, before her later withdrawal into near-total seclusion. The poem likely addresses a real person who remained emotionally distant despite her offerings of friendship or more.

The 'Sir' is crucial—it's formal, respectful, gendered, and creates hierarchy. She's supplicant to authority figure, buyer to seller, woman to man. That power imbalance runs through every line. When she says 'Could you afford to sell?' she's technically asking if he can spare it, but 'afford' also means 'can you bear to' or 'do you dare to.' It's a question about his emotional economy, not hers.

The anti-Semitic reference to a 'Jew' as the ultimate hard bargainer is historically common but jarring to modern readers. Dickinson uses the stereotype to say: even the shrewdest merchant would see this deal is weighted in the seller's favor. It's meant to strengthen her argument but reveals the casual prejudice of her era and social class. The line doesn't work without that stereotype doing its ugly work.