Emily Dickinson Lexicon

POISE, n. [poiz; W. pwys, weight; Arm. poes; Fr. poids. See the Verb.]

1. Weight; gravity; that which causes a body to descend or tend to the center. Spenser.
2. The weight or mass of metal used in weighing with steelyards, to balance the substance weighed.
3. Balance; equilibrium; a state in which things are balanced by equal weight or power; equipoise. The mind may rest in a poise between two opinions. The particles forming the earth, must convene from all quarters toward the middle, which would make the whole compound rest in a poise. – Bentley.
4. A regulating power; that which balances. Men of an unbounded imagination often want the poise of judgment. – Dryden.