Death robbed the speaker—likely of someone she loved—but she calls that easy. Other losses followed: liberty stripped away her emotional defenses, yet she endured it, even glimpsing honor in suffering for a brave beloved. She can bear the frauds of distance, danger, and death. What truly torments her is suspense: a vague calamity that never arrives but stalks our entire possession, balancing everything on a hair’s outcome, then seesawing coolly to see if it splits. The mood is taut, almost unnerved, yet the speaker sounds hardened. She handles certain pain with a bleak composure; what unhinges her is waiting for a disaster that might or might not come. This is a poem about the special cruelty of uncertainty—how the mind can suffer more in the hush before the blow than in the blow itself.
Robbed by Death -- but that was easy -- — Summary
Robbed by Death -- but that was easy -- To the failing Eye I could hold the latest Glowing -- Robbed by Liberty
For Her Jugular Defences -- This, too, I endured -- Hint of Glory -- it afforded -- For the Brave Beloved --
Fraud of Distance -- Fraud of Danger, Fraud of Death -- to bear -- It is Bounty -- to Suspense's Vague Calamity --
Stalking our entire Possession On a Hair's result -- Then -- seesawing -- coolly -- on it -- Trying if it split --