From Blank to Blank
A Threadless Way
I pushed Mechanic feet —
To stop — or perish — or advance
Alike indifferent —
If end I gained
It ends beyond
Indefinite disclosed —
I shut my eyes — and groped as well
'Twas lighter — to be Blind —
狄金森的空白常是和极度痛苦相联的,比如她的另一首诗 Pain has an Element of Blank . Harold Bloom 在他的西方正典 (The Western Canon) 里特别提到狄金森的这首“空白”:I had thought of brooding on Dickinson's blanks as well, but I retreated before their formidable intensity. Bloom强调了狄金森的认知原创性(cognitive originality)和陌生性(strangeness),比如最后一句实现了反转,一种反讽(irony)的惊奇,definitely ends beyond the poem,让读者深思。