I reason, Earth is short —
And Anguish — absolute —
And many hurt,
But, what of that?
I reason, we could die —
The best Vitality
Cannot excel Decay,
But, what of that?
I reason, that in Heaven —
Somehow, it will be even —
Some new Equation, given —
But, what of that?
Life is difficult and then we die, but there is Heaven, but will that make up for it?
i think this poem can also be seen as a response to some of the mainstream romantic ideas of her time. the words “i reason” speak to an audience that has fallen in love with the belief that they are able to transcend this world by their own actions and attempts to reach an enlightened state of being. Emily reminds her contemporaries that no matter what kind of transcendent state we may be able to reach through our ability to reason, we still all die. She leaves us with “But, what of that” at the end of each stanza, and this seems to be reaffirming her skepticism of the ideas advanced by romantic art. So what if we can enlighten ourselves she seems to be asking.
We can never surpass the death ,no matter how energetic we are when we alive.We should face the death directly. Life is short, though we should still keep on living.