Heart, we will forget him!

Heart, we will forget him!
You an I, tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave,     
I will forget the light.

When you have done, pray tell me
That I my thoughts may dim;                        
Haste! lest while you're lagging.
I may remember him!
-Emily Dickinson

Commentary

Though only a short poem, it is very passionate. Someone has been hurt and they are trying to get over them. The person may be Dickinson herself since she did lose her first husband, who had passed away. Now she must forget the feelings she felt for him and forget the memories, but if the heart takes too long, then the brain will continue to remember him. She needs both the heart and the head to forget their past love completely in order for her to move on. Forgetting a loved one isn't the easiest thing to do, and it takes a while to do. I feel that Dickinson wishes that she could forget her love, but the feelings and memories are still there. Heartbreak is something that everyone will eventually go through, so it is easy to relate to. Either that person will hurt you or you will lose that person to a tragedy. This poem could apply to either one of those situations because for either one, you are going to want to forget the person in order to move on. Based off of words such as "warmth" and "light", this person has had a very good impact on Dickinson's life. The "warmth" could refer to the feelings he caused in her heart, and the "light" could refer to the good memories. Since this person has had such a good impact on her life, this is making it harder for Dickinson to forget them and move on. That seems to make healing so much harder when the person was good and then they suddenly hurt you, or they pass away.  Unlike most of Dickinson's other poems, this one is short and short and straight to the point. It is very simple and easy to see what it is that Dickinson wants.