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".

References
  1. Fr#515 in: Franklin, R. W., ed. The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press, 1999.


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