He scanned it staggered by Emily Dickinson

Эмили Дикинсон -Сергей Ёлтышев
Прочёл,- сражён...
петлёй замкнул
весь путь, иль только след,
беспомощно охвачен тем,
что мыслями ослеп...

Взошёл наощупь...там ли Бог?..
к себе спустился он...
погладив спусковой крючок,
из жизни выбрел вон.




(Эмили - об известии и самоубийстве
после него.)

[David Preest:
Emily’s empathy with drastically alienated characters
extends here even to a suicide. In line 1 the ‘it’ may refer
to a letter with bad news or the victim’s extreme situation.
In line 2 ‘Dropped the Loop’ perhaps suggests that he is
drawing the curtain over both his past and any period in
the future, his present despair being all engulfing. He
‘gropes up’ for God but cannot find him. He ‘gropes backward’
at his own hopeless situation and almost absent-mindedly
shoots himself.]

***************************************
He scanned it -- staggered -- by Emily Dickinson

He scanned it -- staggered --
Dropped the Loop   
To Past or Period --               
Caught helpless at a sense as if               
His Mind were going blind --               

Groped up, to see if God was there --            
Groped backward at Himself               
Caressed a Trigger absently               
And wandered out of Life.