Dickinson's Analysis of Grief Has an Element of Emptiness Although cryptic in language and structure, Dickinson imbues her work with an instinctively vivid sense of emotion. His examination of the sensation of pain focuses on only some of the more subtle nuances of pain that are integral to the experience. It makes use of an "Element of Void" which it introduces in its opening line. In exploring pain, he proposes that this "void" is a self-propagating force, subject to the dynamic forces of time, history, and perception, but only to a certain extent. His first mention of “Pain” in the first line does not distinguish this particular pain. emotion as belonging to a particular type of pain. It does not replace any other word for “pain.” By suggesting no other words for “pain,” he chooses the most semantically comprehensive term for the emotion. He thus gives his work the responsibility of examining the collective and general breadth of "pain". His alternatives offer connotations that color his use of the term "Grief": the sense of loss in "grief" and "mourning" or the sense of pity in "anguish" and "suffering." He chooses the lexical vagueness of "Pain" to encompass all these aspects of emotion. In introducing the "Element of Void", it becomes the context in which he examines pain. The exact context of “Blank” possesses a vagueness that suggests its own inadequacy of a solid definition. Perhaps this sense of vagueness is the impression that this use of "Blank" is intended to inspire. In this context, this "emptiness" suggests a quality of empty unawareness which is supported by the following lines: "He can't remember when it started." This inability to remember raises a major question regarding the nature of "Pain"; that is, whether Dickinson is choosing to personify "Pain" by giving it a human quality like memory, or is effectively denying humanity by making it incapable of remembering. Several lines below, he suggests that “Pain” does in fact possess a kind of limited sensitivity in recognizing “His past – enlightened to perceive.” It is very likely that it is the "Pain" that is illuminated or felt. These conscious acts of giving "Pain" a kind of awareness capacity personify "Pain" to some extent. Continuing "Pain"'s inability to remember, She proceeds, "She can't remember when it started - or if there was a time when it wasn't like this.