There is a Languor of the Life
More imminent than Pain —
‘Tis Pain’s Successor — When the Soul
Has suffered all it can —

A Drowsiness — diffuses —
A Dimness like a Fog
Envelops Consciousness —
As Mists — obliterate a Crag.

The Surgeon — does not blanch — at pain
His Habit — is severe —
But tell him that it ceased to feel —
The Creature lying there —

And he will tell you — skill is late —
A Mightier than He —
Has ministered before Him —
There’s no Vitality.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Emily Dickinson's poem There is a Languor of the Life

2 Comments

  1. frumpo says:

    The dull pain after the sharp pain…

  2. Jonathan says:

    admiral adama quotes the first verse of this poem in the final season of battlestar galactica…i think the show was extremely well done and well, sometimes the worlds of high and low culture do collide in very interesting ways…

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