Dealing with Grief - "After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes"

For anyone that has experienced profound grief, it can sometimes be difficult to express those feelings and experiences to anyone else.

This morning I was reading some poetry by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), an American poet who had experienced loss in her own life and wrote eloquently and frequently on the subject. Here is one poem that, for me, describes perfectly the impact of grief on our lives.

After Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes

After great pain a formal feeling comes--

The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs;

The stiff Heart questions--was it He that bore?

And yesterday--or centuries before?

The feet, mechanical, go round

A wooden way

Of ground, or air, or ought,

Regardless grown,

A quartz contentment, like a stone.

This is the hour of lead

Remembered if outlived,

As freezing persons recollect the snow--

First chill, then stupor, then the letting go.

Until next time

Maureen