"I make His Crescent fill or lack --" By Emily Dickinson [Analysis]

I make His Crescent fill or lack --[1] His Nature is at Full[2] Or Quarter -- as I signify --[3] His Tides -- do I control --[4] He holds superior in the Sky[5] Or gropes, at my Command[6] Behind inferior Clouds -- or round[7] A Mist's slow Colonnade --[8] But since We hold a Mutual Disc --[9] And front a Mutual Day --[10] Which is the Despot, neither knows --[11] Nor Whose -- the Tyranny --[12]
Poem 909 [F837] "I make his Crescent fill or lack" Analysis by David Preest [Poem]

Emily imagines that she is the sun and her beloved master the moon. For two stanzas she has the mastery. The moon does everything 'at [her] command.' But in the final stanza she asserts that their powers are equal and complementary, with neither knowing who controls the other.
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