It Is Easy to Work When the Soul Is at Play
poem 244
It Is Easy to Work When the Soul Is at Play - meaning Summary
Work Strained by Inner Pain
The poem contrasts effortless work when the spirit is light with the crippling difficulty of labor when the soul is suffering. Small domestic sounds — the image of someone putting away playthings — amplify that difficulty. Dickinson distinguishes blunt physical aches from sharper, more invasive pain that gnaws at nerves, using violent images to show how inner torment corrupts ordinary activity and makes concentration and usefulness nearly impossible.
Read Complete AnalysesIt is easy to work when the soul is at play But when the soul is in pain The hearing him put his playthings up Makes work difficult then It is simple, to ache in the Bone, or the Rind But Gimlets among the nerve Mangle daintier terribler Like a Panter in the Glove
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