In Poem 341, commonly referred to by the opening phrase, “After Great Pain,” Emily Dickinson performs an “autopsy of grief” by dissecting the turmoil of the speaker -- allowing the reader to enter the headspace of a person who has experienced a tragedy (ppt). Within each stanza, the speaker travels along the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. However, just like the actual grieving process, Dickinson does not give the poem a finite resolution, but instead hints at the true cyclical nature of grief.
According to psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the first stage of grief is denial, so naturally, Stanza 1 opens with a very numb speaker having a lot of questions (Smith). In order to convey the true …show more content…
While the bargaining stage is not directly discussed within the poem, it is apparent that the individual is desperately trying to live a normal life in Stanza 3 despite their loss. Perhaps their personal bargain was that if they continued to live as normally as possible, the pain would go away. Unfortunately, the individual is having serious trouble upholding their end of the bargain. Dickinson writes that their “Feet, mechanical, go around -/A Wooden way/ Of Ground, or Air, or Ought-” meaning that this poor person is caught in an extremely depression loop of robotically going about the everyday processes of life without getting any joy or comfort out of it (Lines 5-7). It is a very hard and “Wooden way” to exist which makes them repeatedly question “Why did this happen to me?” Line 8, “Regardless grown” is simply showing that the individual is growing more depressed and no longer has any regard for their life or the things in it. However, Dickinson writes that the speaker has a “Quartz contentment,” which sounds positive on the surface level but in reality, the individual is not content at all (Line 9). Quartz is rough and cloudy and cannot feel any emotion because it is a stone. So the individual has simply hardened themselves so that they are complacent, not actually content. Sadly, this individual 's depression …show more content…
Within this metaphorical hour, the person has to decide whether to let the depression consume them, possibly leading to their death, or continue living but never being able to forget the pain that they have suffered (Line 11). In Line 12 Dickinson compares this to how “Freezing persons, recollect the Snow -” meaning that once someone has been traumatized, they will always remember the person or event that caused them such turmoil. As described in the last line, a freezing person experiences “First - Chill - then Stupor - then the letting go -” showing that first the individual has the realization of the terrible occurrence (Line 13). Then, as the bad news or “Chill” sets in, they become numb to the pain in a state of “Stupor,” just like in the first and second stanzas of the poem. Finally, the person reaches the acceptance or “letting go” stage of grief (Smith). In some cases, a person might actually have to die in order to reach acceptance. As stated in Line 11, the experience is only remembered if the individual lets go and lives through it, implying that not everyone survives. And even if the individual survives and fully accepts the events that occurred, there is no guarantee that they will not have to repeat the process another time, possibly even every day for their entire
According to psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the first stage of grief is denial, so naturally, Stanza 1 opens with a very numb speaker having a lot of questions (Smith). In order to convey the true …show more content…
While the bargaining stage is not directly discussed within the poem, it is apparent that the individual is desperately trying to live a normal life in Stanza 3 despite their loss. Perhaps their personal bargain was that if they continued to live as normally as possible, the pain would go away. Unfortunately, the individual is having serious trouble upholding their end of the bargain. Dickinson writes that their “Feet, mechanical, go around -/A Wooden way/ Of Ground, or Air, or Ought-” meaning that this poor person is caught in an extremely depression loop of robotically going about the everyday processes of life without getting any joy or comfort out of it (Lines 5-7). It is a very hard and “Wooden way” to exist which makes them repeatedly question “Why did this happen to me?” Line 8, “Regardless grown” is simply showing that the individual is growing more depressed and no longer has any regard for their life or the things in it. However, Dickinson writes that the speaker has a “Quartz contentment,” which sounds positive on the surface level but in reality, the individual is not content at all (Line 9). Quartz is rough and cloudy and cannot feel any emotion because it is a stone. So the individual has simply hardened themselves so that they are complacent, not actually content. Sadly, this individual 's depression …show more content…
Within this metaphorical hour, the person has to decide whether to let the depression consume them, possibly leading to their death, or continue living but never being able to forget the pain that they have suffered (Line 11). In Line 12 Dickinson compares this to how “Freezing persons, recollect the Snow -” meaning that once someone has been traumatized, they will always remember the person or event that caused them such turmoil. As described in the last line, a freezing person experiences “First - Chill - then Stupor - then the letting go -” showing that first the individual has the realization of the terrible occurrence (Line 13). Then, as the bad news or “Chill” sets in, they become numb to the pain in a state of “Stupor,” just like in the first and second stanzas of the poem. Finally, the person reaches the acceptance or “letting go” stage of grief (Smith). In some cases, a person might actually have to die in order to reach acceptance. As stated in Line 11, the experience is only remembered if the individual lets go and lives through it, implying that not everyone survives. And even if the individual survives and fully accepts the events that occurred, there is no guarantee that they will not have to repeat the process another time, possibly even every day for their entire