Tombs

Tombs symbolize the ceremonies associated with death. The speaker says that, after trauma, "The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs –" (2), likening the nerves of the body to headstones in a cemetery. This word choice is significant because it invites the reader to think about grief as death – a correlation that will reappear at the end of the poem – but focuses instead on the burial process and the ceremonies associated with loss rather than death itself.

Jesus Christ

Christ symbolizes pain and sacrifice. The speaker refers to Christ in the first stanza when she says, "The stiff Heart questions ‘was it He, that bore,’" (3), referring to the feeling Christ might have had during the crucifixion. The speaker likens the "great pain" of the first line to Christ's sacrifice for humanity, but notes that in the aftermath of trauma one might forget about major spiritual narratives like this one...