"After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes" by Emily Dickinson....?

Question:

"After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes" by Emily Dickinson....?

A few questions as to what people think of of this poem:

After great pain a formal feeling comes--
The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs;
The stiff Heart questions--was it He that bore?
And yesterday--or centuries before?

The feet, mechanical, go round
Of Ground, or Air, or Ought
A wooden way
Regardless grown,
A quartz contentment, like a stone.

This is the hour of lead
Remembered if outlived,
As freezing persons recollect the snow--
First chill, then stupor, then the letting go.

1. What do you think is the main concern?

2. What do you think the feelings, attitudes, and insights are expressed?

3. How can the poem be related to our lives and experiences?

I am not trying to get people to do my homework! I am an exploratory teacher and I wanted to see if the people on here can answer the question in order to see how well my 12th grade class will do, thanks ahead of time.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Well, the main concern of the poem is one's reaction to being hurt, possibly after a unsuccesful love, symbolised by "the Heart". The poet expresses that, after the pain of love, a "formal feeling" comes, meaning a neutral feeling of reserve and calm, but at the same time, sinister and dark due to its unnatural "the nerves sit ceremonous like tombs". After reaching this limit, one doesn't feel the pain anymore, and can't even remember quite clearly what happened, or when it happened. Living becomes monotonous and pointless ("Ought"), and happiness is something as steady and dull as is a stone. Snow is a metaphore of love, with its three stages "first chill, then stupour, then the letting go."

You can relate to this poem whenever, after a painful experinece,
you start to feel numb and start to let go of the past.

Eh, not very good at this, plus my english isn't that good.