Emily Dickinson: Pain Has An Element of Blank
Pain Has An Element of Blank
Pain has an element of blank;
It cannot recollect
When it began, or if there were
A day when it was not.
It has no future but itself,
Its infinite realms contain
Its past, enlightened to perceive
New periods of pain
Discussion Questions
How do interpret the Emily Dickinson poem? Did it change how you think about the experience of being in pain? Does it resonate with your experience?
What can we take from Dickinson’s poem and Eula Biss’ essay “The Pain Scale” to improve the care of patients in pain?
Reflections from #MedHumChat
“I also think the “element of blank” conjures a feeling of erasure. Pain erases so many other elements of the present.”—@RanaAwdish
“The first stanza resonated with me the most. I reflect on my own experience w/ chronic pain and this stanza captures it fully. I question whether it's always been this way. I also worry that I wouldn't recognize my own body if the pain were to disappear one day.”—@LanceShaver
“I love that pain is personified in her poem, that it exists outside the person, taking an identity and shape of its own, how pain can sometimes overcome our own identities.”—@AltafSaadiMD
“never dismiss pain and know that we can never truly understand it. To think of pain broadly as not just something affecting an individual but also having broader effects. Pain has the capacity to transform a person & open up a new “blank” space before them...”—@BriChristophers
“remember that pain is experienced in as many ways as there are people. To think about how much our biases effect our perceptions of our own pain and the pain of others.”—@DianaCejasMD
About this #MedHumChat
Dickinson’s poem, “Pain Has An Element of Blank” was paired with an essay by Eula Biss, “The Pain Scale” for a #MedHumChat discussion on March 20, 2019 exploring Subjectivity & Pain.
The pieces for this chat, along with the discussion questions, were selected by Colleen Farrell
About the Author
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was an American poet whose first volume of poems was not published until four years after her death, at which time it was met with stunning success. She is well-known for the originality of her poetic style. You can learn more about her and her work here.