Pain Has An Element Of Blank

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she thus examines pain. The exact context of "Blank" possesses a vagueness that suggests its own inadequacy of solid definition. Perhaps this sense of indefinition is the impression that this usage of "Blank" is meant to inspire. In this context, this "blankness" is suggestive of a quality of empty unknowingness that is supported by the next few lines: "It cannot recollect When it begun." This inability to remember raises a major problem with respect to the nature of "Pain;" namely whether Dickinson is choosing to personify "Pain" by giving it a human quality like memory, or is in fact negating the humanity of making it unable to remember. Several lines below, she suggests that "Pain" does in fact possess some sort of limited sentient ability in recognizing "Its Past - enlightened to perceive." It is very possible that it is the "Pain" that is being enlightened or perceiving. These conscious acts of giving "Pain" some sort of capacity of awareness personify "Pain" to some ...

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