The Life we have is very great.

The Life we have is very great.

The Life that we shall see

Surpasses it, we know, because

It is Infinity.

But when all space has been beheld

And all Dominion shown

The smallest Human Heart’s extent

Reduces it to none.

F(1178)

With this poem, Dickinson writes with a positive, awe-filled tone as she reflects on the existence and splendor of “Infinity” or Heaven. This reverence for life and the life that is to come is evident. However, by the conclusion of the poem the tone shifts to one of inadequacy as the speaker comes to realize they will be unable to fully appreciate all that awaits them in Infinity. 

Unlike the punctuation of most of her poems, with this one in particular Dickinson speaks in complete sentences and enlists the use of periods. By using them in lieu of her signature dash, each statement becomes definite, not to be interpreted or analyzed but accepted at face value. It is stated plainly that our lives are great, and with a statement like this it is easy to offer a rebuttal. Once could mention the many tragedies of the life such as poverty, disease, world hunger, war, etc., but the opening verse dismisses them entirely. Rather than focusing on the inherently negative aspects of life, the poem only acknowledges the potential it has to be great and leaves no room for argument. Despite this decision to remain optimistic, the speaker recognizes that our Earthly lives are not the peak of existence and the afterlife offers an even greater experience.

The source stems from the infinitude of the life that is to come. Something that cannot be measured or contained, it is understandable why the speaker is certain in their belief that it is a guarantee of greater. If Earth – which is within human’s mental capacity to comprehend – is perceived as great, it is unknowable the wonders that will be found in Infinity. However, the limitlessness is a double-edged sword because the inability to grasp Infinity robs humans of their ability to fully appreciate it. Once humans witness the “Dominion,” their limits are exposed as their small hearts are not expansive enough to contain it. The Dominion cannot expand beyond that which beholds it; therefore, it is reduced to none.

The final sentence of the poem harps on the insignificance of humans because rather than Infinity adjusting to the size of the heart, it ceases to exist at all. It rejects partial consumption and refuses to shrink itself for that which cannot accept it in its raw, uninhibited form. This poem shows Dickinson’s recognition that although people can understand the idea of Infinity, they will never be able to understand it profoundly. Too wide to consume, their hearts succumb to the weight of it and diminish it to nothing. This is depicted in the above image as it provides a visual representation of how small and insignificant man is next to an entity as infinite as the galaxies. Yet, in spite of his relative smallness and inability to consume, he tries.

Reading this poem brings to mind another of Dickinson’s works which directly opposes the argument of human’s inability to consume Infinity. In her poem “The Brain – is wider than the Sky –” (F598), the speaker believes that the brain can contain the expanse of the sky with ease and equates the mind to God. Created in His image, this poem suggests that man is the god of the world, superior to all and able to consume and create as he pleases. Within the mind’s ability to create something from nothing and imagine that which it has never witnessed lies a separate, god-like Infinity. The existence of this self-contradiction shines a light on Dickinson’s use of her poetry to explore her inner thoughts. Jed Deppman accurately describes her polarized poems as “thoughtful production of, and reaction to, extreme states of being” (167-168). In both poems, she expresses a belief in man’s ability to reduce Infinity to nothing and she uses them to explore both ends of the thought. Reduction by consumption versus reduction by inadequacy.

Bouson, J.Brooks. Emily Dickinson. Salem Press, 2011.