Expanse cannot be lost by Emily Dickinson

Синь вольную ль отняв,
горчайшую из воль
льёт Божество...
Безбрежен Мир Его,
чей вход для толков - мрак ворот,
мой луч, рассеян, стих,
и даже знаменья толчку
не вмять следа на них...

Хоть Мир, тебе открытый,
уж заперт впредь -
сирот в нём нет,
нам всем тебе вослед,
помедлив, истекать
к Сиянию Пути, -
пристанищу - внимать,
лишь тем, кто пал, - уйти!





(На смерть племянника, маленького Гилберта.)

[David Preest:
This poem concludes a letter (L871) of consolation written
to Sue shortly after the death of her son, Gilbert. Emily
writes that she and Sue are, ‘Moving on in the Dark like
Loaded Boats at Night, though there is no Course, there is
Boundlessness.’ Then in the poem, picking up the word
‘Boundlessness,’ she claims that at least the ‘Expanse’
of the universe cannot be lost. God does not send us
never-ending Joy, but he does decree that the infinity of
immortality awaits us, even if we cannot gain the
slightest hint in this life of what it might be like.
In the second stanza Emily addresses Gilbert. He is not
alone, for his loved ones follow him in their imaginations
even though, as in poem 1564, they are proceeding
more slowly than him to the ‘Tracts of Sheen’ which are
Heaven. They, ‘the Tent,’ are still listening even though
Gilbert, ‘the Troops,’ has departed.]

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Expanse cannot be lost -- by Emily Dickinson

Expanse cannot be lost --             
Not Joy, but a Decree               
Is Deity --               
His Scene, Infinity --               
Whose rumor's Gate was shut so tight   
Before my Beam was sown,               
Not even a Prognostic's push          
Could make a Dent thereon --          

The World that thou hast opened       
Shuts for thee,               
But not alone,               
We all have followed thee --          
Escape more slowly               
To thy Tracts of Sheen --             
The Tent is listening,               
But the Troops are gone!