Emily Dickinson's Collected Poems
Is" After Great Pain" a physical or psychological pain?
check the poem
check the poem
This poem definitely is dealing with psychological pain. The body is still functioning, but is on a sort of auto-pilot. This can be seen by the mechanical, wooden movement of the feet and the questioning of the heart. The last stanza really reinforces the psychological pain by saying that if we get through this hour, this memory will still leave us numb, like freezing snow. The final line reflects th grieiving process with denial(chill) disbelief(stupor) and finally acceptance(letting go).