After great pain, a formal feeling comes

“Easter Wings” by George Herbert (1633)

Emily Dickinson presents pain as dignified and honorable, but the 17th-century metaphysical poet George Herbert depicts pain as mostly abject. His speaker describes themselves as “[d]ecaying more and more” (Line 3) and filled with “sicknesses and shame” (Line 12). As with Dickinson’s speaker, Herbert’s speaker connects pain to religion, with Herbert’s speaker believing that their pain will subside once they’re united with God. In the context of Herbert’s poem, “the letting go” (Line 13) occurs when a person separates themselves from the anguished human condition and connects themselves to a higher power.

“I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” by Emily Dickinson (1896)

“After great pain” depicts pain as a process: There’s a dignified detachment, a daze, and then there’s letting go. In “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,” Dickinson turns death into a similar process, featuring mourners, a service, a burial, and then the jarring experience of death. As with pain, Dickinson presents death as a “solitary” trial (Line 16). In “After great pain,” there are no people around to help the distressed person: The person must survive their trauma on their own. In “I felt a Funeral,” the mourners are oppressive and bring the dead person no comfort.