This world is not conclusion
Emily Dickinson
This world is not conclusion; A sequel stands beyond, Invisible, as music, But positive, as sound. It beckons and it baffles; Philosophies don't know, And through a riddle, at the last, Sagacity must go. To guess it puzzles scholars; To gain it, men have shown Contempt of generations, And crucifixion known.
Of note
When this poem first appeared in print, in 1896, the editors stopped it after twelve lines, at "crucifixion known." Dickinson's last eight lines were left out, including her ending: "Narcotics cannot still the Tooth / That nibbles at the soul."
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TEXT PROVENANCE · First published 25 January 1896 in The Outlook · Text from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete, a Project Gutenberg compilation of the 1890, 1891, and 1896 series.
Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete
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