The inexpressible exquisitely expressed
“The colossal substance of immortality.”
“THE SOUL’S SUPERIOR INSTANTS” (“306”) by Emily Dickinson (10th December 1830–15th May 1886) speaks of that rare, inner experience—bestowed upon a fortunate few—wherein the very mystery of the universe is revealed.
Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, and rarely travelling beyond her home village, Emily lived in reclusive simplicity, devoting her life to the poetic muse. Her use of language forever telegraphic, she exquisitely conveys the ultimate mystical moments, “The Soul’s Superior instants”, which grace the solitary soul when all external perception has been withdrawn.
And thus, through the art of her poetical economy, both Emily and the reader are pointed to the transcendental corporeality of the Immortal, where eternal peace and everlasting tranquillity can only ever truly be found.
The Soul’s Superior instants
Occur to Her—alone—
When friend—and Earth’s occasion
Have infinite withdrawn—Or She—Herself—ascended
To too remote a Height
For lower Recognition
Than Her Omnipotent—This Mortal Abolition
Is seldom—but as fair
As Apparition—subject
To Autocratic Air—Eternity’s disclosure
To favorites—a few—
Of the Colossal substance
Of Immortality
Post Notes
- Feature image: Johann Heinrich Füssli, Silence, Public Domain
- Emily Dickinson: A Woman Before Her Time
- Emily Dickinson Museum
- Dickinson Electronic Archives
- Emily Dickinson Archive
- Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
- Sappho: The Tenth Muse
- Matsuo Bashō: Deep Silence
- Ana Ramana: Hymns to the Beloved
- Dennis Gallagher: Towards the Light
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