After great pain, a formal feeling comes

by

After great pain, a formal feeling comes is Emily Dickinson's unflinching exploration of emotional numbness following devastating grief — the "Hour of Lead" when feeling shuts down to survive. "First — Chill — then Stupor — then the letting go —"
Author Emily Dickinson
Credit for portrait of Emily Dickinson: Todd-Bingham picture collection, 1837-1966 (inclusive). Manuscripts & Archives, Yale University.
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 —