Absence Disembodies So Does Death

Absence Disembodies So Does Death - context Summary

Composed 1864

Written in 1864, this compact lyric reflects Emily Dickinson’s persistent engagement with death, absence, and the afterlife during her most productive middle years. The poem frames death and absence as similar processes that "disembody" persons, then invokes scientific and emotional responses—"superposition" and "love"—as ways of coping or understanding. Its terseness and abstract imagery fit Dickinson’s introspective practice. Publication history is unclear, and the poem likely circulated privately among her manuscripts rather than appearing in a contemporary periodical.