Permanence

With its use of the word "Immortality," this poem presents a contrast that seems simple at first but more complex as it is examined more closely. The poem deals with the fact that life ends—one of the few things that is certain about life. The speaker of the poem says that her life has been cut short twice, and that she expects it to happen at least once more at life's end. The ironic thing is that life will eventually be limited by the soul's limitlessness—its immortality. The word "Immortality" is used in the poem, for the most part, in the same way that it is used in common discourse. There is a key difference, however. Dickinson capitalizes it, and relates it to God and heaven. In Christian doctrine, heaven is where those who have died in this world will go to join God and to...