After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes by Emily Dickenson

In this poem, Dickenson describes death. In the first stanza, we get the image of a funeral. A funeral where "the nerves sit ceremonious like tombs." The nerves is represented by the family that has just lost a loved one. They sit there and do not move as a tomb as they feel a sense of lost. We see an image of a stiffened heart. This shows us that we can see a cold heart that is no longer here with us any more.

In the second stanza, Dickenson talks about mechanical feet that go around. This describe the wake, when people can go to the coffin and say there goodbyes, for the last time. The mechanical feet is the procession of people. This usually takes place at a funeral home where many people gather to show there love for the decest.

In the last stanza, Dickenson summarizes everything. She talks about a feeling after pain. She explains, and she discusses an emotion we have to break the habit of. We all have to someway, somehow to break from the attachment. Dickenson talks about winter. When you are cold, you get a sense of numbness. Eventually the numbness goes away whether by sitting in a warm house, or having a warm drink. This is a metaphor for saying when something bad happens, it will eventually get better. The pain and suffering will go away. Yes, it may take some time, but it will happen when it needs to happen.