This World is not Conclusion

“‘Sweet Skepticism of the Heart’: Science in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson” by Fred D. White (1992)

In his essay, White explores Dickinson’s complicated relationship with science and faith. White explains that, for Dickinson, scientific observation was a means to better understand the world, but she often resisted the scientific world’s reductionist and anti-spiritual tendencies. White discusses how “This World is not Conclusion” best exhibits Dickinson’s nuanced balance of her two passions: scientific observation of the physical world and spiritual speculation regarding the intangible.

“Dickinson, Calvin, and the Drama of Perception” by Thomas Gardner (2014)

In this essay, Gardner explores the influence of theologian John Calvin on the writings and poetic worldview of Emily Dickinson. Although Dickinson resisted much of the Calvinist doctrine she grew up with, she did adopt certain elements of this theology. Gardner demonstrates that both Calvin and Dickinson saw the physical world as a means to perceive the invisible God, believing that a complete understanding of divinity could only be achieved upon death. Gardner argues that Dickinson adopted Calvin’s belief in the limitations of human perception and furthered this idea by exploring the limitations of human language, a theme found in her poem “This World is not Conclusion.”

“The Riddles of Emily Dickinson” by Anthony Hecht (1978)

Hecht’s essay explores how much of Dickinson’s poetry operates like riddles: Dickinson conceals familiar concepts with abstract language, often presenting vague descriptions before finally revealing a poem’s central concept. Some of Dickinson’s riddle-like poems are on topics such as death, eternity, and hope. Reading Dickinson’s poems as riddles is helpful when considering a poem like “This World is not Conclusion,” which repeatedly offers comparisons and definitions for the concept of a “species” living in the world beyond.