After A Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes
"After a Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes": A Deconstruction
Emily Dickinson's poem, "After a Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes," is a work that showcases the fragile emotional state of a victim of recent trauma and pain. Much like its theme the poem provides a feeling of solemnity and ephemerality- quite literally at that. According to the Emily Dickinson Museum, the year in which the poem was written, 1863, was a part of an intense period in Dickinson's life during which the Civil War was taking place. The same source also notes that "After a Great Pain.." may have been inspired by the news of the war, seeing as Dickinson was known to closely follow the events of the War as they occurred. The entirety of the poem can be deconstructed …show more content…
in terms of the différance, that is, the meaning of words derived from their synchrony and diachrony within the poem and with reference to historical context, in the free-flowing wording used in the writing style employed by Dickinson, in the identification of the presence and absence of the speaker through the poem's progression, and by analyzing the various symbolism and imagery Dickinson used in composing the poem.
The poem begins with the eponymous title as the first line, then proceeds to spiral rapidly out of a regular structured pattern. As the poem continues, the length of each line becomes shorter than the previous one and the frequency of long rhythmic dash usage increases with every line. In her criticism of Dickinson in the publication, "The Undiscovered Continent: Emily Dickinson and the Space of the Mind", Suzanne Juhasz notes that the structure of the poem follows that of an analogical progression, which means that the poem progresses in a typological manner as opposed to a linear one. Indeed, it is as if Dickinson is trying to convey the brevity of the deprecating emotions that one feels before completely shutting down, or the increasing shortness of one's thoughts as one begins to die. The poem is still in iambic pentameter and the last two lines of the first stanza rhyme. Throughout the poem, Dickinson connects the overall meaning of the poem with a series of analogies that all serve to bring to mind a feeling of monotony and dread, along with a feeling of subtle confusion. The "formal feeling" alluded to at the beginning of the poem is supported by the likening to the lines, "sit ceremonious, like Tombs-" (line 2) and the "This is the Hour of Lead-" (line 10). As such, two meanings of the poem can be derived from the historical period of the poem's conception. The first meaning is that the poem is speaking of the sadness and resignation of someone on death's doorstep, or of someone who has survived a tragedy and is left to face the aftermath. The second meaning has to do with the Civil War that had also been taking place when the poem was written. Leigh-Anne Marcellin, in her article, "Singing off the Charnel Steps:" Soldiers and Mourners in Emily Dickinson's War Poems, notes that the American Civil War coincides with Dickinson's most productive years as a poet. The influence of the War can be seen in Dickinson's choice of words, as she makes reference to "The Feet, mechanical, go round-" (line 5) as if drawing to mind the methodical movement of the soldiers' formations. Her references "As Freezing persons, recollect the snow" (line 12) and to the "Tombs" (line 2) could be related to the soldiers' thoughts as they died on the cold battlefield, and their subsequent funerals. The synchrony of the poem's meaning is brought about by the poet's constant use of lines that have a synonymous association with solemnity, such as "The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs-" (line 2), "A Quartz contentment, like a stone-" (line 9) and "This is the Hour of Lead-" (line 10), which all contribute to sharing with the reader the titular formal feeling that Dickinson alludes to.
The second point of deconstruction is the continuous distortion of the speaker's presence throughout the poem.
The speaker presents the poem in a manner reminiscent of an individual who is weaving in and out of consciousness, as emphasized by the increased usage of long rhythmic dashes as well as the poem's abrupt disconnect at the end. There is a distinct detachment between the speaker, the poem, and the readers whom the poem addresses. The seemingly random, but calculated placement capitalizations also emphasize this detachment, as they make obscure references only the speaker and poet are truly aware of. For instance, the "He, that bore," (line 3) is a reference to Christ, and in turn serves to liken the speaker's pain to the suffering of Christ during His crucifixion. The speaker's loss of knowing the amount of time that has passed in their sorrow is highlighted in the very next line. Time itself has a distorted perception in the poem and is a paradox in itself as the speaker is attempting to define the ambiguous state of numbness one feels after a loss using the loss of time as the means to do so. Furthermore, the only points of reference as to how the speaker is feeling through the poem is by how the speaker compares their pain to that of Christ and to objects that are associated with loss and the solitude that follows loss, but the speaker never once clarifies as to the exact situation or circumstances that are taking place. Moreover, the question of who the speaker is not clarified either. By omitting the truth of what is occurring to make the speaker feel the way he or she is, the poet creates a scenario in which the speaker is speaking to themselves, and that the reader is not privy to details because the speaker would not need to explain what is happening if he or she were to be speaking to themselves as he or she would already know what had transpired to make the speaker feel as empty as he or she is feeling in the
poem. Dickinson uses a series of analogies to describe the progression of the mental and physical manifestations of the "formal feeling" that she describes to occur after a particularly painful event has taken place. She personifies the nerves to "sit ceremonious, like Tombs-" (line 2), the heart to be "stiff" (line 3), and the feet to be "mechanical, (and) go round" (line 4). The use of the Christ imagery is prominent because of the association of Christ as a symbol of the pain that every human being is prone to. "A Wooden way" (line 7) could either refer to the mechanical, mindless way of going about one's life while still in shock. And the use of "Quartz contentment" (line 9) is an oxymoron, seeing as how the hardness of quartz would not provide any comfort whatsoever. Each stanza seems to signify a particular stage in dealing with grief, and the syntax of the words used seems to corroborate this association. The first stanza deals with the internal struggle and lack of clarity that fuel the formal feeling with the personifications of the individual parts of the body. The second stanza speaks of the physical paralysis that comes with the pain, with allusions to mechanical movements, dead expectations of carrying on with life and the discontentment that settles in oneself. The third stanza is concerned with the feeling of fading out of existence, with the heavy leaden feeling surrounding oneself while the cold reality settles in, and is ultimately left unresolved. Consequently, with these descriptions, similes, and analogies, the poet emphasizes the state of blurred confusion the speaker is in.
Emily Dickinson does a magnificent job of capturing the hollow emptiness that one feels after a terrible incident.
Works cited:
1. "Emily Dickinson and the Civil War." Emily Dickinson Museum, 2009, https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/civil_war
2. Juhasz, Suzanne. " Suzanne Juhasz: On 341 ("After a great pain, a formal feeling comes--"). The Undiscovered Continent: Emily Dickinson and the Space of the Mind, 12 September 2015. http://www.modernamericanpoetry.org/criticism/suzanne-juhasz-341-after-great-pain-formal-feeling-comes. Accessed 30 March 2018.
3. Marcellin, Leigh-Anne Urbanowicz."Singing off the Charnel Steps:" Soldiers and Mourners in Emily Dickinson's War Poems. The Emily Dickinson Journal, Volume 9, Number 2, 2000, pp. 64-74, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/11149. Accessed 30 March 2018.
4. Abcarian, Richard, Marvin Klotz and Samuel Cohen. Literature The Human Experience. 12th Ed., Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016.
Emily Dickinson's poem, "After a Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes," is a work that showcases the fragile emotional state of a victim of recent trauma and pain. Much like its theme the poem provides a feeling of solemnity and ephemerality- quite literally at that. According to the Emily Dickinson Museum, the year in which the poem was written, 1863, was a part of an intense period in Dickinson's life during which the Civil War was taking place. The same source also notes that "After a Great Pain.." may have been inspired by the news of the war, seeing as Dickinson was known to closely follow the events of the War as they occurred. The entirety of the poem can be deconstructed …show more content…
in terms of the différance, that is, the meaning of words derived from their synchrony and diachrony within the poem and with reference to historical context, in the free-flowing wording used in the writing style employed by Dickinson, in the identification of the presence and absence of the speaker through the poem's progression, and by analyzing the various symbolism and imagery Dickinson used in composing the poem.
The poem begins with the eponymous title as the first line, then proceeds to spiral rapidly out of a regular structured pattern. As the poem continues, the length of each line becomes shorter than the previous one and the frequency of long rhythmic dash usage increases with every line. In her criticism of Dickinson in the publication, "The Undiscovered Continent: Emily Dickinson and the Space of the Mind", Suzanne Juhasz notes that the structure of the poem follows that of an analogical progression, which means that the poem progresses in a typological manner as opposed to a linear one. Indeed, it is as if Dickinson is trying to convey the brevity of the deprecating emotions that one feels before completely shutting down, or the increasing shortness of one's thoughts as one begins to die. The poem is still in iambic pentameter and the last two lines of the first stanza rhyme. Throughout the poem, Dickinson connects the overall meaning of the poem with a series of analogies that all serve to bring to mind a feeling of monotony and dread, along with a feeling of subtle confusion. The "formal feeling" alluded to at the beginning of the poem is supported by the likening to the lines, "sit ceremonious, like Tombs-" (line 2) and the "This is the Hour of Lead-" (line 10). As such, two meanings of the poem can be derived from the historical period of the poem's conception. The first meaning is that the poem is speaking of the sadness and resignation of someone on death's doorstep, or of someone who has survived a tragedy and is left to face the aftermath. The second meaning has to do with the Civil War that had also been taking place when the poem was written. Leigh-Anne Marcellin, in her article, "Singing off the Charnel Steps:" Soldiers and Mourners in Emily Dickinson's War Poems, notes that the American Civil War coincides with Dickinson's most productive years as a poet. The influence of the War can be seen in Dickinson's choice of words, as she makes reference to "The Feet, mechanical, go round-" (line 5) as if drawing to mind the methodical movement of the soldiers' formations. Her references "As Freezing persons, recollect the snow" (line 12) and to the "Tombs" (line 2) could be related to the soldiers' thoughts as they died on the cold battlefield, and their subsequent funerals. The synchrony of the poem's meaning is brought about by the poet's constant use of lines that have a synonymous association with solemnity, such as "The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs-" (line 2), "A Quartz contentment, like a stone-" (line 9) and "This is the Hour of Lead-" (line 10), which all contribute to sharing with the reader the titular formal feeling that Dickinson alludes to.
The second point of deconstruction is the continuous distortion of the speaker's presence throughout the poem.
The speaker presents the poem in a manner reminiscent of an individual who is weaving in and out of consciousness, as emphasized by the increased usage of long rhythmic dashes as well as the poem's abrupt disconnect at the end. There is a distinct detachment between the speaker, the poem, and the readers whom the poem addresses. The seemingly random, but calculated placement capitalizations also emphasize this detachment, as they make obscure references only the speaker and poet are truly aware of. For instance, the "He, that bore," (line 3) is a reference to Christ, and in turn serves to liken the speaker's pain to the suffering of Christ during His crucifixion. The speaker's loss of knowing the amount of time that has passed in their sorrow is highlighted in the very next line. Time itself has a distorted perception in the poem and is a paradox in itself as the speaker is attempting to define the ambiguous state of numbness one feels after a loss using the loss of time as the means to do so. Furthermore, the only points of reference as to how the speaker is feeling through the poem is by how the speaker compares their pain to that of Christ and to objects that are associated with loss and the solitude that follows loss, but the speaker never once clarifies as to the exact situation or circumstances that are taking place. Moreover, the question of who the speaker is not clarified either. By omitting the truth of what is occurring to make the speaker feel the way he or she is, the poet creates a scenario in which the speaker is speaking to themselves, and that the reader is not privy to details because the speaker would not need to explain what is happening if he or she were to be speaking to themselves as he or she would already know what had transpired to make the speaker feel as empty as he or she is feeling in the
poem. Dickinson uses a series of analogies to describe the progression of the mental and physical manifestations of the "formal feeling" that she describes to occur after a particularly painful event has taken place. She personifies the nerves to "sit ceremonious, like Tombs-" (line 2), the heart to be "stiff" (line 3), and the feet to be "mechanical, (and) go round" (line 4). The use of the Christ imagery is prominent because of the association of Christ as a symbol of the pain that every human being is prone to. "A Wooden way" (line 7) could either refer to the mechanical, mindless way of going about one's life while still in shock. And the use of "Quartz contentment" (line 9) is an oxymoron, seeing as how the hardness of quartz would not provide any comfort whatsoever. Each stanza seems to signify a particular stage in dealing with grief, and the syntax of the words used seems to corroborate this association. The first stanza deals with the internal struggle and lack of clarity that fuel the formal feeling with the personifications of the individual parts of the body. The second stanza speaks of the physical paralysis that comes with the pain, with allusions to mechanical movements, dead expectations of carrying on with life and the discontentment that settles in oneself. The third stanza is concerned with the feeling of fading out of existence, with the heavy leaden feeling surrounding oneself while the cold reality settles in, and is ultimately left unresolved. Consequently, with these descriptions, similes, and analogies, the poet emphasizes the state of blurred confusion the speaker is in.
Emily Dickinson does a magnificent job of capturing the hollow emptiness that one feels after a terrible incident.
Works cited:
1. "Emily Dickinson and the Civil War." Emily Dickinson Museum, 2009, https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/civil_war
2. Juhasz, Suzanne. " Suzanne Juhasz: On 341 ("After a great pain, a formal feeling comes--"). The Undiscovered Continent: Emily Dickinson and the Space of the Mind, 12 September 2015. http://www.modernamericanpoetry.org/criticism/suzanne-juhasz-341-after-great-pain-formal-feeling-comes. Accessed 30 March 2018.
3. Marcellin, Leigh-Anne Urbanowicz."Singing off the Charnel Steps:" Soldiers and Mourners in Emily Dickinson's War Poems. The Emily Dickinson Journal, Volume 9, Number 2, 2000, pp. 64-74, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/11149. Accessed 30 March 2018.
4. Abcarian, Richard, Marvin Klotz and Samuel Cohen. Literature The Human Experience. 12th Ed., Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016.