There is a pain — so utter —
"There is a pain — so utter —" is a poem written by American poet Emily Dickinson. It was not published during her lifetime. Like many of Dickinson's poems, it was substantially changed when it was first published in 1929. The original version, with Dickinson's typical dashes, was restored by scholar Thomas H. Johnson for his 1955 edition of The Poems of Emily Dickinson.
Text
There is a pain — so utter —
It swallows substance up —
Then covers the Abyss with Trance —
So Memory can step
Around — across — opon [sic] it —
As One within a Swoon —
Goes safely — where an open eye —
Would drop Him — Bone by Bone —[1]
Interpretation
Pain is a recurring theme in Dickinson's poetry. This poem possibly describes an altered state of mind ("trance", "swoon") which makes the pain bearable. In this state of mind the memory is allowed to be selective, to "step around the abyss".[citation needed]
References
- ^ Fr#515 in: Franklin, R. W., ed. The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press, 1999.
External links
- More information about "There is a pain - so utter", Emily Dickinson, Modern American Poetry.
- Emily Dickinson's use of the dash, Emily Dickinson, Modern American Poetry.
- v
- t
- e
- "I taste a liquor never brewed" (1861)
- "Success is Counted Sweetest" (1864)
- "Because I could not stop for Death" (1890)
- "There's a certain Slant of light" (1890)
- "A Bird came down the Walk" (1891)
- "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" (1891)
- "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" (1891)
- "I like to see it lap the Miles" (1891)
- "Wild Nights – Wild Nights!" (1891)
- "I heard a Fly buzz—when I died" (1896)
- "There is a pain — so utter —" (1929)
- Edward Dickinson (father)
- Emily Norcross Dickinson (mother)
- William Austin Dickinson (brother)
- Lavinia Norcross Dickinson (sister)
- Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson (sister-in-law)
- Thomas Wentworth Higginson (editor)
- Mabel Loomis Todd (editor)
- Margaret Maher (maid)
- Emily Dickinson home and museum
- Collected manuscripts and papers
- Emily Dickinson International Society
- Dickinson Electronic Archives
- The Belle of Amherst (1976 play)
- Emily Dickinson (1989 book)
- A Quiet Passion (2016 film)
- Wild Nights with Emily (2018 film)
- Dickinson (2019 TV series)
This article related to a poem is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e