Disorientation

Dickinson explores disorientation in the poem on both a thematic and formal level. The speaker of the poem asserts that in the aftermath of a traumatic experience, one can lose their sense of space and time, no longer able to discern where they are or how they got there. This notion is evident from the first stanza, when the speaker says, "The stiff Heart questions ‘was it He, that bore,’ / And ‘Yesterday, or Centuries before’?" (3-4). Here, the speaker alludes to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, questioning in vague terms whether the pain of post-traumatic grief is related to Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Notably, the speaker does not refer to Christ by name, adding to the sense of disorientation and loss of clarity the speaker describes. Furthermore, the speaker suggests that, after this "great paint" (1), one would not be able to distinguish whether the crucifixion...