What Is Emily Dickinson's Pain?

. Emily Dickinson is known for writing poems that relate to the way she feels about certain emotions or inevitable events, such as life or death. My first impression of this particular poem is that Dickinson was feeling sorrowful or hurt. I can definitely tell that many harsh feelings were felt while writing this poem. When analyzing this poem, many things stand out to me that let me know how deeply Dickinson felt her pain and also how often she thinks of her own pain. The title itself lets readers know that the author may be experiencing some grief of her own. It also may hint that she tries to find her comfort in the understanding that everyone grieves, no matter how big or small. Within the first two lines of this poem, Dickinson is telling us that as soon as she comes in contact with someone with grief, she immediately tries to measure just how much grief is present. …show more content…
Death may be one reason, but there are definitely more reasons than one. Death only comes around once, while actions such as heart breaks and broken bones can come around numerous times. Dickinson makes a sharp statement next, stating that death “only nails the eye.” Dickinson words this so that ‘nails the eye” is supposed to be some leisure task.
Stanza eight starts off with Dickinson listing other kinds of grief such as grief because of envy, grief because of poverty, and a general sadness that some call "Despair." Then Dickinson hints at feeling exiled when mentioning feeling “Banishment in native eyes in sight of Native air.”
In stanza nine, Dickinson finally confesses the comfort she feels by looking at the grief expressed by other people. Dickinson uses the word “Calvary” which is where Jesus was crucified in the Bible. Perhaps Dickinson is comparing her relief she feels by the grief of others to the relief Jesus gave us when he was