258. What comparison does the first stanza make. What is unusual or confusing about the
comparison? What image (mental picture or impression) is foremost in your mind at the
end of the first stanza? What words in the first stanza have a positive connotation? Which are
neutral? Which have a negative connotation? What feeling registers most strongly at the end
of the stanza?
In the second stanza, what is contradictory about the expression "Heavenly Hurt"? What is
Dickinson trying to express through this apparent contradiction? What effect does this hurt
have? How could a "Slant of light" hurt?
In the third stanza, what does "it" refer to? Compare the expression "imperial affliction" to
the earlier expression "Heavenly hurt."
Fourth stanza. What is "it"? What is "the Distance/ On the look of Death"? What effect does
Dickinson's placement of dashes (--) have on the meaning?
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