“The Bustle in a House” by Emily Dickinson (1890)

“The Bustle in a House” was originally titled “Aftermath.” Though it was written around 1866, it was only first published in 1890 after Dickinson passed away. While “Whose cheek is this?” details the moments up until the fading of life and what might follow immediately after, “The Bustle in a House” takes a longer view, spanning out to assess the emotional turmoil and “work” that one must do in the morning hours after losing a loved one. The speaker mournfully describes the act of packing away one’s love because they can no longer physically show it to their departed friend or family member.

“This World is not Conclusion” by Emily Dickinson (1896)

Dickinson most likely wrote “This World is not Conclusion” around 1862, though it would later appear in publication in 1896. The first 12 lines, according to Dickinson scholar Thomas Johnson, were printed in Outlook in January of 1896 under the title “Immortality,” and then the poem appeared again in Poems the same year. This poem is a more optimistic outlook on death, acknowledging that there is something more beyond the end of life. What exactly lies beyond death, however, the speaker admits is unknown and unknowable.