After Great Pain By Emily Dickinson - Book Report/Review Example

First Sur A Close Reading of “After Great Pain" By Emily Dickinson The poem, “After the Pain” is a great piece of poetry written by Dickinson Emily. She is a smart poet who is well conversant with human psychology and human responses. In her poem, she generates human suffering in a brilliant manner. It is not any form of suffering, but it is specifically that pain that is felt when someone undergoes a terrible and traumatizing incident in his or her life. In this poem, it does not matter the cause of the pain. The reason behind this being whatever the pain that one experiences the resultant pain is the same. Therefore, what matters in the poem is the response. Using various literary devices, Dickinson follows stepwise the deadness or the feeling that is experienced when a terrible incident happens. In this poem, the emotional pain was discussed. Indeed, numbness is initially experienced before one feels that pain. An illustration that can describe this situation better is the electric circuit breaker. Excess electric current causes the circuit breaker to trip and eventually cuts off the electricity so that the connected devices are not blown up. In the same manner, the excess anguish will trigger the emotional circuit breaker that is numbness temporarily so that we don’t experience pain. The experience may be encountered by some of us or are undoubtedly bound to be experienced some time in future. In stanza 1 of the poem, the use of alliteration has been identified to emphasize a specified aspect. For example, the f sound in line 1 and the subsequent stanzas, the s sound is used. “Heart” and “He” sounds are tied together by H sounds. In the subsequent verses, the alliteration is also identified but sometimes only two words are used. In this poem, there is no speaker, no “1”. Dehumanization of the sufferer occurs until the last two lines. In line 1, the victim is taken as the object. In this sense, “formal feeling” is the work on him or her. He or she is passive and submissive in a way that there is no freedom of defense during the period when pain is being subjected. The description of the sufferer is in terms of body parts in the form of the heart, the nerves, and the feet. Additionally, the gender of the victim is not revealed. One might wonder whether depersonalization is a technique of portraying the emotional numbness. In the description of this poem, I decide to give gender to the sufferer, and hence I take it to be a female. It is to reduce or technically remove the constant repetition of using “sufferer” or “he or she.” Enjambment used in the second and the last lines where the lines made sense when they were assumed to be one sentence. In addition, the use of rhyme scheme is typical in stanza 1. The first two lines “… comes – … like Tombs,” and the last two lines “… bore … before?” are good examples. The style of Imagery used in this context is very clear. The writer is in the constant use of words such as numbness with “After the pain, formal feeling,” “like tombs”, “ceremonious” and “stiff heart”. The numbness is a description of the absence of feeling. In an accurate manner, it is the absence of a link between feelings. More so, it can be used to imply to a general disconnection from emotions. Put a consideration of the word “formal” the magnitude of feeling it imposes. Rather, the significance of feeling engaged in the ceremony, specifically the one in association with the “tomb” or death to be precise. Additionally, consider the level of emotions that can be felt by a “stiff” heart. The victim poses a question about Christ “He”. In this context, Christ is ultimate suffering human being and hence He is a symbol of agony. There are various interpretations of this question. First, she wonders whether the crucifixion belonged to her or Jesus. It is because of the horrific blows that are experienced by the sufferer. In the second interpretation, the acuteness of the agony leaves her wondering whether the crucifixion was hers or Jesus’. Paradoxically, the condition of numbness is lack agony in itself. In this state, of agony, one loses the sense of time, and it, therefore, makes them feel like there shall be no end in their suffering. In that sense, it makes her wonder whether the pain began yesterday or she has been in it for centuries. In the second stanza, the means of movement, that is, the feet is a representation of the daily routines that are carried out (ground, air or ought). But we do this in a mechanical and a wooden way. It is symbolic of further numbness as well as dehumanization. “Ought” can be taken to mean “nothing,” like zero or it may imply the responsibilities or duties. It means all the things that ought to be done. One might wonder which possibilities are preferred and the reasons for choosing them. Rather, he or she might wonder there is another reading yet. The term “Regardless grown” is used to imply the loss of regard or rather concern for things or living. There is the irony of feeling of emotion known as “quartz contentment.” To be clear “Quartz contentment is an oxymoron. A question might arise as to how much feeling is possessed by quartz. In order to put the emphasis of quartz-ness of the “contentment,” the writer adds that it compared to that of a stone, that is, “like a stone”. The question might also arise as top how much feeling is suggested by the simile. Taking a keen view of the flow of this poem, it reveals the uniqueness of this stanza from the first and third stanza. The two stanzas have four lines while five lines are in this stanza. One might ask why the writer decided to lengthen the stanza. The best approach to get an answer is putting a little consideration on the significance of the verse. It raises the questions as to whether lengthening the stanza is appropriate to the meaning. If the addition of an extra verse does not give any additional idea to the poem, then it was a mistake to include the line. Stanza 3 gives the description of the time of numbness in a lesser perspective. It is shorter as compared to the time in stanza one that was a century. However, the time is not moving and, she sees no difference. She feels like time is hanging heavily (lead). In that sense, the hour of lead is also an oxymoron. Line of this stanza gives an introductory description of how the full force and danger is experienced “if outlined.” In this aspect, the chances of the sufferer’s pain survival are reduced. The poem, therefore, winds up with a simile. It is when she makes a comparison to the freezing persons. Freezing as opposed to the term frozen shows the current and continuing process or action. The sufferer has gone to the next level of suffering that entails releasing and freezing of the agonies. The question arises whether the use of “persons” unlike using the singular context emphasizes the universal application of the process she is tracing. Work Cited Parisi, Joseph, and Kathleen Welton. 100 Essential Modern Poems By Women. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2008. Read More