J501

This World is not Conclusion.A Species stands beyond -Invisible, as Music -But positive, as Sound -It beckons, and it baffles -Philosophy - don’t know -And through a Riddle, at the last -Sagacity, must go -To guess it, puzzles scholars -To gain it, Men have borneContempt of GenerationsAnd Crucifixion, shown -Faith slips - and laughs, and rallies -Blushes, if any see -Plucks at a twig of Evidence -And asks a Vane, the way -Much Gesture, from the Pulpit -Strong Hallelujahs roll -Narcotics cannot still the ToothThat nibbles at the soul -

c. 1862                   1896

Another investigation of the “interval” between life and death that Dickinson describes in J822. Although she begins with a simple affirmation of certainty, her faith in another realm is gradually undermined until she finally acknowledges that doubt seems to be an inherent aspect of human nature.