“This World is not Conclusion” Summary

“This World is not Conclusion” Themes

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  Faith vs. Doubt

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “This World is not Conclusion”

• Lines 1-4

  This World is not Conclusion.
  A Species stands beyond—
  Invisible, as Music—
  But positive, as Sound—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  It beckons, and it baffles—
  Philosophy, dont know—
  And through a Riddle, at the last—
  Sagacity, must go—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  To guess it, puzzles scholars—
  To gain it, Men have borne
  Contempt of Generations
  And Crucifixion, shown—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  Faith slips—and laughs, and rallies—
  Blushes, if any see—
  Plucks at a twig of Evidence—
  And asks a Vane, the way—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  Much Gesture, from the Pulpit—
  Strong Hallelujahs roll—
  Narcotics cannot still the Tooth
  That nibbles at the soul—

  

  

  

  

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“This World is not Conclusion” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Simile

  

  

  

  

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• Personification

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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“This World is not Conclusion” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Species
• Positive
• Sagacity
• Borne
• Vane
• Narcotics

• • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “This World is not Conclusion”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“This World is not Conclusion” Speaker

“This World is not Conclusion” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “This World is not Conclusion”

More “This World is not Conclusion” Resources

• External Resources

  • Dickinson's Legacy — Read contemporary novelist Helen Oyeyemi's essay on what Dickinson means to her.

  • The Emily Dickinson Museum — Visit the website of the Emily Dickinson Museum to find a detailed overview of the poet's life and work.

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.

  • Dickinson and Religion — Read an article discussing Dickinson's complicated relationship with religious faith and doubt.

  • Emily Dickinson Archive — Visit the Emily Dickinson Archive to see images of Dickinson's manuscripts and learn about how they were discovered and published.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Dickinson

  • A Bird, came down the Walk

  • After great pain, a formal feeling comes –

  • A Light exists in Spring

  • A Murmur in the Trees—to note—

  • A narrow Fellow in the Grass

  • An awful Tempest mashed the air—

  • As imperceptibly as grief

  • A still—Volcano—Life—

  • Because I could not stop for Death —

  • Before I got my eye put out

  • Fame is a fickle food

  • Hope is the thing with feathers

  • I cannot live with You –

  • I cautious, scanned my little life

  • I could bring You Jewels—had I a mind to—

  • I did not reach Thee

  • I died for Beauty—but was scarce

  • I dreaded that first Robin, so

  • I dwell in Possibility –

  • I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

  • If I can stop one heart from breaking

  • I had been hungry, all the Years

  • I have a Bird in spring

  • I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -

  • I like a look of Agony

  • I like to see it lap the Miles

  • I measure every Grief I meet

  • I’m Nobody! Who are you?

  • I started Early — Took my Dog —

  • I taste a liquor never brewed

  • It was not Death, for I stood up

  • I—Years—had been—from Home—

  • Like Rain it sounded till it curved

  • Much Madness is divinest Sense -

  • My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun

  • Nature is what we see

  • One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted

  • Publication — is the Auction

  • Safe in their Alabaster Chambers

  • Shipwreck

  • Success is counted sweetest

  • Tell all the truth but tell it slant —

  • The Brain—is wider than the Sky—

  • The Bustle in a House

  • The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants

  • There came a Wind like a Bugle

  • There is no Frigate like a Book

  • There's a certain Slant of light

  • There's been a Death, in the Opposite House

  • The saddest noise, the sweetest noise

  • The Sky is low — the Clouds are mean

  • The Soul has bandaged moments

  • The Soul selects her own Society

  • The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –

  • They shut me up in Prose –

  • This is my letter to the world

  • 'Twas the old—road—through pain—

  • We grow accustomed to the Dark

  • What mystery pervades a well!

  • Whose cheek is this?

  • Wild nights - Wild nights!