Shivpreet Singh

I stumbled upon this beautiful poem by Emily Dickinson. In this poem she writes about the desire of the heart and how it evolves as we go through life:

The Heart asks Pleasure – first –
And then – Excuse from Pain –
And then – those little Anodynes
That deaden suffering –

And then – to go to sleep –
And then – if it should be
The will of its Inquisitor
The liberty to die –

The first and foremost desire of the heart is pleasure, which is the ultimate goal of every human being. However, when pleasure is unattainable, the heart seeks to avoid pain and live a life free from suffering.

But what happens when pain is unavoidable? The heart then longs for "Anodynes," or painkillers, to ease its discomfort. The word "Anodyne" stems from the Greek for "without pain," and it represents the heart's desperate plea for relief. Yet, even when anodynes fail, the heart does not give up hope. It seeks the escape of sleep or unconsciousness to find some solace.

But what if sleep fails to soothe one's ills? What if the pain is too great to bear, and there seems to be no end in sight? At this point, the heart's only remaining desire is for death to bring it the ultimate release. It is a desperate plea for liberty, a way to end the suffering once and for all.

In the end, the heart turns to the Inquisitor, a religious figure who represents the ultimate Inquisitor, God (or Death), for help. The Inquisitor is the only one who can bring an end to the heart's pain and grant it the peace it seeks.

So the desires of the heart eventually find solace in death. Death is the ultimate cure for all desires.

In somewhat contrasting light, Mirza Ghalib relates desires to death:

Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi Ke Har, Ke Har Khwahish Pe Dam Nikle
I have thousands of desires, and each desire to die for
I have lost so many wishes, but I have still a lot more

Death is the ultimate cure for all desires

The idea that death is the ultimate cure for all desires is a common theme in literature and philosophy. It suggests that death is the final and ultimate end to all of our earthly struggles and desires. This is a belief that has been held by many cultures and religions throughout history.

One interpretation of this idea is that death is the ultimate release from suffering. All of our desires, whether they are for pleasure, love, success, or something else entirely, are ultimately driven by a desire to avoid suffering. We seek pleasure to avoid pain, we seek love to avoid loneliness, and we seek success to avoid failure. However, no matter how much we try to satisfy our desires, there will always be some degree of suffering in our lives. Death, therefore, is seen as the ultimate release from this suffering. It is the final cure for all our earthly desires and a way to achieve the ultimate peace.

Another interpretation of this idea is that death is the ultimate equalizer. No matter how rich, powerful, or successful we are in life, we all face the same fate in death. In this sense, death is seen as the ultimate leveler, the great equalizer that puts everyone on an even playing field. It is the one thing that we all have in common, regardless of our differences in life.

While the idea that death is the ultimate cure for all desires may seem bleak or pessimistic, it can also be seen as a reminder to appreciate the time we have on this earth and to make the most of it. Rather than chasing after unattainable desires, we can focus on living our lives in a way that brings us joy and fulfillment, knowing that in the end, death will come for us all. By accepting this reality, we can find peace and meaning in the present moment, rather than constantly striving for something more.

The death that scares the world, gives me pleasure
It is only death that leads you to God
- Kabir (Kabir Jis Marne Te Jag Darai, GGS 1365)

I stumbled upon this beautiful poem by Emily Dickinson. In this poem she writes about the desire of the heart and how it evolves as we go through life:

The Heart asks Pleasure – first –
And then – Excuse from Pain –
And then – those little Anodynes
That deaden suffering –

And then – to go to sleep –
And then – if it should be
The will of its Inquisitor
The liberty to die –

So the desires of the heart eventually find solace in death. Death is the ultimate cure for all desires.

In somewhat contrasting light, Mirza Ghalib relates desires to death:

Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi Ke Har, Ke Har Khwahish Pe Dam Nikle
I have thousands of desires, and each desire to die for
I have lost so many wishes, but I have still a lot more

Death is the ultimate cure for all desires

Death is the final cure for all desires, the ultimate end to all of our earthly struggles and desires.

Death is the Ultimate Release

We seek our initial desire is for happiness through various means, such as pleasure, love, and success. However, as we experience the ups and downs of life, we realize that happiness is fleeting and that sorrow is an inevitable part of the human experience. Therefore, our desires shift from seeking happiness to seeking freedom from sorrows. We seek to avoid pain, suffering, and loss, and strive to live a life that is free from these negative experiences.

Despite our best efforts, however, we cannot completely escape sorrow and suffering. At some point, we realize that death is the ultimate release from these experiences. It is the final cure for all our desires and the ultimate solution to our problems. While this may seem like a bleak or nihilistic view of life, it is actually a reminder of the impermanence of all things and the importance of living in the present moment.

By accepting that death is an inevitable part of life, we can learn to appreciate the time that we have and to focus on what truly matters. We can let go of our attachment to material possessions and external circumstances and focus on cultivating inner peace and contentment. Rather than constantly striving for happiness or freedom from sorrows, we can focus on living a life that is meaningful and fulfilling, knowing that in the end, death will come for us all.

Thus Guru Nanak says: Ponder about true life. Dying while living is the true living.

Photo: David Gilbert [see below for more]

I saw this beautiful photo of a bee on a flower, so enchantingly in tune with the colors of the bloom and the color of the noon, I was reminded of an Emily Dickinson’s poem (see below).

On first look it seems like the bee is idling, doing nothing of purpose. It is striking how the idleness of the bee is a tune, much like it’s labor which is chant. And if that it all it was doing it would still be beautiful. Even the ones that are waiting are serving reminds John Milton. Just by being itself the bee sings. This singing is it’s true calling, it’s service of its truth. The service of the guru of truth is fruitful says Guru Amar Das. The service of the bee is fruitful. In singing this beautiful song of being itself the bee opens the door of heaven on earth, So Dar (Guru Nanak). That door beyond which everything sings, from the elements to the planets and the universe.

But if you carefully think about it, the bee is not just being beautiful and idling. It is pollinating the flowers. She goes from flower to flower vanquishing them and herself. She helps propagate her own species and plants. Her labor is true, it is the service of the guru. This is her song that maker her part of the eden she is creating on earth.

The Bee by Emily Dickinson

Like trains of cars on tracks of plush
I hear the level bee:
A jar across the flowers goes,
Their velvet masonry

Withstands until the sweet assault
Their chivalry consumes,
While he, victorious, tilts away
To vanquish other blooms.

His feet are shod with gauze,
His helmet is of gold;
His breast, a single onyx
With chrysoprase, inlaid.

His labor is a chant,
His idleness a tune;
Oh, for a bee’s experience
Of clovers and of noon!

More about the David Gilbert

https://davidgilbertpoetry.com/

The photograph was taken by poet David Gilbert with his iPhone. David is a born and bred Londoner. He is the youngest son of a kinder-transport refugee, and has worked for 35 years in health and healthcare. He is a mental health user and the first ‘Patient Director’ in the NHS. Throughout his career, he has written poetry, and has published four collections:

The Rare Bird Recovery Protocol, book published by Cinnamon Press;
Liberian Pygmy Hippopotamus, pamphlet published by Templar;
ReCollections – reflections on the 70th anniversary of the NHS, with artist Beth Hopkins, pamphlet published by The Bethlem Gallery;
Elephants Fragile, pamphlet published by Cinnamon Press

In the book Journal of a Solitude, the poet May Sarton once wrote that “Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is richness of self.”

Poems can be companions when you are alone. In his poem, The Day is Done, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow invites a poem to soothe his feelings, and in turns soothes anyone who reads his words:

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

The following poems soothe my feelings:

Tagore - Jodi Tor Dak Shune

Jodi tor đak shune keu na ashe tôbe êkla chôlo re,

Êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo re.

Jodi keu kôtha na kôe, ore ore o ôbhaga,

Jodi shôbai thake mukh firaee shôbai kôre bhôe---

Tôbe pôran khule

O tui mukh fuţe tor moner kôtha êkla bôlo re.

Jodi shôbai fire jae, ore ore o ôbhaga,

Jodi gôhon pôthe jabar kale keu fire na chae---

Tôbe pôther kãţa

O tui rôktomakha chôrontôle êkla dôlo re.

Jodi alo na dhôre, ore ore o ôbhaga,

Jodi jhôŗ-badole ãdhar rate duar dêe ghôre---

Tôbe bojranôle

Apon buker pãjor jalie nie êkla jôlo re.

Tagore's English translation

If they answer not to thy call walk alone,

If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,

O thou unlucky one,

open thy mind and speak out alone.

If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,

O thou unlucky one,

trample the thorns under thy tread,

and along the blood-lined track travel alone.

If they do not hold up the light when the night is troubled with storm,

O thou unlucky one,

with the thunder flame of pain ignite thy own heart

and let it burn alone.

William Stafford - Royalty in Desperation

A Story That Could Be True

If you were exchanged in the cradle and

your real mother died

without ever telling the story

then no one knows your name,

and somewhere in the world

your father is lost and needs you

but you are far away.

He can never find

how true you are, how ready.

When the great wind comes

and the robberies of the rain

you stand on the corner shivering.

The people who go by—

you wonder at their calm.

They miss the whisper that runs

any day in your mind,

“Who are you really, wanderer?”—

and the answer you have to give

no matter how dark and cold

the world around you is:

“Maybe I’m a king.”

- William Stafford

Guru Arjan - Bhinni Rainariye

The night is beautiful

but everyone is asleep

Still, the saints are awake

they are awake day and night

to see the stars twinkling in the sky

and in the dewdrops on petals and sepals

Song by Adrienne Rich

Song

“You’re wondering if I’m lonely;
OK then, yes, I’m lonely
as a plane rides lonely and level
on its radio beam, aiming
across the Rockies
for the blue-strung aisles
of an airfield on the ocean

You want to ask, am I lonely?
Well, of course, lonely
as a woman driving across country
day after day, leaving behind
mile after mile
little towns she might have stopped
and lived and died in, lonely

If I’m lonely
it must be the loneliness
of waking first, of breathing
dawn’s first cold breath on the city
of being the one awake
in a house wrapped in sleep

If I’m lonely
it’s with the rowboat ice-fast on the shore
in the last red light of the year
that knows what it is, that knows it’s neither
ice nor mud nor winter light
but wood, with a gift for burning”

—Adrienne Rich

Unto my books - Emily Dickinson

Unto my books so good to turn
Far ends of tired days;
It half endears the abstinence,
And pain is missed in praise.

As flavors cheer retarded guests
With banquetings to be,
So spices stimulate the time
Till my small library.

It may be wilderness without,
Far feet of failing men,
But holiday excludes the night,
And it is bells within.

I thank these Kinsmen of the Shelf;
Their countenances bland
Enamour in prospective,
And satisfy, obtained.

- Emily Dickinson

Acquainted with the Night - Robert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;

And further still at an unearthly height,

One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

I have been one acquainted with the night.

- Robert Frost

Emily Dickinson’s poem “I stepped from Plank to Plank” reflects her ability to use simple imagery—stepping on planks—to explore profound existential themes like uncertainty, mortality, and human experience. The "plank" represents the precarious and finite path of life, where every step is deliberate, cautious, and imbued with the fear of collapse. The poem conveys how this experience of careful, often fearful, navigation through life becomes what we call "experience." The tension between the vast unknowns—the "stars" above and the "sea" below—creates a sense of both awe and vulnerability.

“I stepped from Plank to Plank…” (875)

I stepped from Plank to Plank
A slow and cautious way
The Stars about my Head I felt
About my Feet the Sea.

I knew not but the next
Would be my final inch —
This gave me that precarious Gait
Some call Experience.

Key Themes in the Poem:

Precariousness of Life:
Dickinson uses the metaphor of stepping on planks to symbolize the fragility of life. Each step carries the potential of falling, a reminder of the uncertainty we navigate daily.
Finite Nature of Experience:
The lines "I knew not but the next / Would be my final inch" capture the inevitability of mortality, with every step being a potential last.
Dual Nature of Existence:
The poem contrasts the infinite—stars and sea—with the finite—planks and steps—suggesting that human life exists at the intersection of vast, unknowable forces and personal, limited experience.
Experience as Growth:
The "precarious Gait" born of uncertainty becomes a metaphor for how experience shapes us. It is not through certainty but through fear and caution that we develop what Dickinson calls "Experience."

Relating the Poem to Gurbani:

Gurbani often reflects on the transitory nature of life, emphasizing the precariousness of human existence and the necessity of spiritual awareness. For instance, the following shabads resonate deeply with Dickinson’s themes:

1. Precariousness of Life (Dukh of Maya):

Gurbani describes life as a fragile bridge, much like Dickinson's planks:

"ਜਿਨਿ ਏਹਿ ਕਲ ਧਾਰੀ ਸਗਲੀ, ਤੇਰਾ ਅੰਤੁ ਨ ਜਾਈ ਲਖਿਆ ॥"
"The One who created this fragile expanse—Your limits cannot be known."
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 3)

Both the poem and this shabad express life as a delicate journey across a narrow and uncertain path. Just as Dickinson’s planks might break, Gurbani reminds us of the illusionary nature of worldly stability, which is ultimately under the Creator's control.

2. Finite Nature of Experience and Mortality:

Dickinson’s awareness of mortality echoes the Sikh understanding of life as fleeting:

"ਰੈਣਿ ਗਵਾਈ ਸੋਇ ਕੈ ਦਿਵਸੁ ਗਵਾਇਆ ਖਾਇ ॥"
"You lose the night in sleep, and the day is wasted in eating."
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 156)

The "final inch" in Dickinson’s poem aligns with Gurbani’s reminder that life is limited, urging reflection on whether we are spending our moments meaningfully.

3. Duality of Existence:

The stars and sea in Dickinson's poem mirror the contrasting aspects of human experience: spiritual aspiration and worldly attachment. Gurbani often speaks of the pull between these two realms:

"ਸੁਖ ਦੁਖ ਦੁਇ ਦਾਰਿ ਕਪੜੇ ਪਹਿਰੇ ਜਾਇ ਮਨੁੱਖ ॥"
"Pleasure and pain are the two garments the mortal wears."
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 149)

Dickinson’s tension between the vast unknown (stars and sea) and the fragile present (planks) parallels Gurbani’s discussion of the soul caught between transcendence and material attachments.

4. Experience as Grace (Anubhav and Gyaan):

For Dickinson, the precarious steps create "Experience," which can be likened to the Sikh concept of anubhav—direct spiritual realization:

"ਗੁਰ ਪਰਸਾਦਿ ਪਾਰਸੁ ਪਰਚਾ ਜਪਿ ਤਤੁ ਗੁਰੂ ਜਸੁ ਲਾਇ ॥"
"By Guru's Grace, the soul experiences the essence of truth and praises the Divine."
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 414)

Just as Dickinson suggests that fear and uncertainty lead to growth, Gurbani reveals that life’s challenges lead to self-realization and closeness to the Divine when approached with faith.

The Ocean, the Stars, and Divine Connection:

In Dickinson’s poem, the sea represents the unknown depths of life, while the stars represent the infinite possibilities of existence. Similarly, Gurbani often uses metaphors of the ocean (samundar) for the Divine and stars (taare) for spiritual knowledge. Guru Nanak says:

"ਮਃ ੧ ॥ ਅਖਰੀ ਨਾਮੁ ਅਖਰੀ ਸਾਲਾਹ ॥ ਅਖਰੀ ਗਿਆਨੁ ਗੀਤ ਗੁਣ ਗਾਹ ॥ ਅਖਰੀ ਲਿਖਣੁ ਬੋਲਣੁ ਬਾਣਿ ॥"
"Through letters comes the Name; through letters comes praise; through letters comes spiritual knowledge and hymns."
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 4)

This aligns with Dickinson’s step-by-step movement through planks (or words), where the cautious gait toward experience can also be interpreted as a spiritual journey.

While Dickinson’s final image of "precarious Gait" points to a human experience shaped by uncertainty, Gurbani offers a vision of transcendence:

"ਸਭੁ ਕੋਈ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਬਿਆਪੈ ਬਉਰਾ ॥ ਹਰਿ ਚਰਣੀ ਲਗਿ ਸੁਖੁ ਪਾਵੈ ਨਾਉ ॥"
"All are engulfed by fear and anxiety, but those who attach to the Divine Feet find peace through the Name."
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 258)

Dickinson’s poem can thus inspire us to approach life’s uncertainties not with fear alone, but with faith, as Gurbani reminds us that even the smallest step in remembrance of the Divine offers stability amidst life’s fragile planks.

I HAD no time to hate, because
The grave would hinder me,
And life was not so ample I
Could finish enmity.

Nor had I time to love; but since
Some industry must be,
The little toil of love, I thought,
Was large enough for me.

Death is the ultimate cure for all desires

Death is the ultimate cure for all desires

Death is the Ultimate Release

Tagore - Jodi Tor Dak Shune

Tagore's English translation

William Stafford - Royalty in Desperation

A Story That Could Be True

Guru Arjan - Bhinni Rainariye

Song by Adrienne Rich

Unto my books - Emily Dickinson

Acquainted with the Night - Robert Frost

“I stepped from Plank to Plank…” (875)

Key Themes in the Poem:

Relating the Poem to Gurbani:

1. Precariousness of Life (Dukh of Maya):

2. Finite Nature of Experience and Mortality:

3. Duality of Existence:

4. Experience as Grace (Anubhav and Gyaan):

The Ocean, the Stars, and Divine Connection:

“I stepped from Plank to Plank…” (875)

Background: An Unusual Emily Dickinson Poem Urging a Young Man to Marry

My Favorite Themes: 1. Oneness

My Favorite Themes: 2. Wedding Guests

My Favorite Themes: 3. Mortality

Comments from Readers

SHIVPREET SINGH

Related Posts

Popular - 30 days

Blog Archive

Message

Twitter