This World is not Conclusion

The poem opens with the statement that the Earth we see is not the entirety of the human experience: “this World is not Conclusion” (Line 1). Death does not end human existence: It may conclude the time on Earth, but it will also grants entrance into the next world, or Heaven, to join the mysterious, spiritual “species” that “stands beyond” (Line 2). However, the speaker is confident of little else besides the fact that eternal life in Heaven exists.

Subsequent lines attempts to explain the nature of the eternal afterlife and its effect on human beings in this world. Although the next world is as definite and “positive” as “Sound” (Line 4), it is also as “Invisible” as “Music” (Line 3)—in other words, perceptible to only some of the senses, intangible but definitely extant. The speaker employs similes to depict eternity, which defies direct description and can only be compared to Earth concepts like sound and music. Although eternity is invisible and unknowable, the speaker can still be confident that it exists just as purely auditory phenomena exist.

Nevertheless, eternity remains a mystery for everyone. The idea of Heaven both “beckons” and “baffles” (Line 5) the enquiring mind, no matter how elevated. The poem dismisses theoretical approaches with a curt and almost funny directness: “Philosophy, don’t know” (Line 6). No intellect can come to a full understanding of eternity. It is a “riddle” (Line 7) which defies “sagacity” (Line 8) and “puzzles scholars” (Line 9) who try to “guess it” (Line 9). With abrupt syntax and numerous dashes, the poem abruptly jumps from one point to the next, demonstrating how people are drawn to the elusive mystery despite its unsolvable nature.

After establishing that one must accept mortals’ limited understanding of the spiritual, the poem describes those who have done the opposite. In their attempts to “gain” (Line 10) access to and understanding of eternity, some “men have borne / Contempt of Generations / And Crucifixion” (Lines 10-12). In other words, those who wished to see eternity avoided introspection, questioning, and “riddle” solving. Instead, they emulated the sufferings of the famously crucified Jesus Christ. However, Dickinson is not convinced that religious persecution is a necessary step on the journey to Heaven. Immediately after describing these men’s publicly “shown” (Line 12) martyrdom, the poem broods on the difference between public displays of faith and private uncertainty and doubt. Drawing attention to the weakness of faith, in the middle of this bold display of religious zeal, indirectly criticizes religious bravado.

No one, regardless of religious denomination, personal actions, or education, is exempt from spiritual doubt. Instead, uncertainly is a core feature of faith, which the poem personifies as a figure that “slips—and laughs—and rallies” (Line 13). This portrayal emphasizes that having faith is a cycle in which a person’s conviction frequently lapses and returns. When faith picks itself up after a fall, it blushes in embarrassment “if any see” (Line 14)—in other words, believers do their best to hide their spiritual misgivings, too proud to admit to their religious turmoil and thus eager to suppress any natural curiosity and skepticism about the spiritual.

Because of their discomfort at their own ignorance and uncertainty, believers “[pluck] at a twig of Evidence— / And [ask] a Vane, the way” (Lines 15-16)—a sarcastic couplet describing unthinking Christians so desperate to seem unshaken that they grasp at any kind of evidence to shore up their beliefs, seeking direction from anything, even a rotating weathervane, to get confirmation of their beliefs. Their anxieties manifest everywhere; in church, the excessive gesturing “from the Pulpit” (Line 17) and the “strong Hallelujahs” (Line 18) from the congregation show that both religious leaders and their flocks refuse consider difficult questions instead of posing as constant believers.

However, this denial cannot work: “Narcotics cannot still the Tooth / That nibbles at the soul—” (Lines 19-20). Although believers might use public displays of religious fervor like a drug to subdue inward spiritual conflict, it is impossible to “still” the persistent doubts about the world to come that trouble all people. The dash at the end of the poem, which feels like Dickinson is breaking off mid-thought rather than concluding the poem in a grammatically proper and comforting manner, highlights the sense that human beings’ struggle with skepticism is never over. Faith in the eternal is an ongoing, lifelong conflict with new questions and doubts, and this mystery has no “conclusion” until the believer has died and joined the “species” which lives “beyond.” Posing questions and confronting doubts is vital to the process of spiritual meditation.