The speaker longs to pull her fragmented self back together—her “scattered selves”—and fuse them into something clear and whole, like a crystal ball. That image matters: a crystal ball is smooth, self-contained, and bright enough to reflect the moon or sun. Once she reaches that inner stillness, she imagines sitting apart like a prophetess, watching time pass and observing people rushing around in “restless self-importance.” There is a quiet weariness in that phrase, as if human busyness seems small from a distance. But the mood is not bitter; it is calm, even yearning. The poem is less about telling the future than about wanting to recover a sense of unity and detachment—to become an untroubled observer rather than someone caught in the noise and hurry.
The Crystal Gazer — Summary
I shall gather myself into myself again, I shall take my scattered selves and make them one, Fusing them into a polished crystal ball Where I can see the moon and the flashing sun. I shall sit like a sibyl, hour after hour intent, Watching the future come and the present go, And the little shifting pictures of people rushing In restless self-importance to and fro.