The first part of the poem describes the world to come, and the second part the revival meeting with words like Much Gesture, Hallelujahs roll, and Narcotics. This poem cannot be analyzed fully without known the Great Awakening, which is hinted in the first line.
This World is not Conclusion. 1
A Species stands beyond－
Invisible, as Music－
But positive, as Sound－
It beckons, and it baffles－5
Philosophy－don't know－
And through a Riddle, at the last－
Sagacity, must go－
To guess it, puzzles scholars－9
To gain it, Men have borne
Contempt of Generations
And Crucifixion, shown－
Faith slips－and laughs, and rallies－13
Blushes, if any see－
Plucks at a twig of Evidence－
And asks a Vane, the way－
Much Gesture, from the Pulpit－17
Strong Hallelujahs roll－
Narcotics cannot still the Tooth
That nibbles at the soul－
A Species stands beyond－
Invisible, as Music－
But positive, as Sound－
It beckons, and it baffles－5
Philosophy－don't know－
And through a Riddle, at the last－
Sagacity, must go－
To guess it, puzzles scholars－9
To gain it, Men have borne
Contempt of Generations
And Crucifixion, shown－
Faith slips－and laughs, and rallies－13
Blushes, if any see－
Plucks at a twig of Evidence－
And asks a Vane, the way－
Much Gesture, from the Pulpit－17
Strong Hallelujahs roll－
Narcotics cannot still the Tooth
That nibbles at the soul－
(F.373/J.501)
[1] This World is not Conclusion:: a hint that "the world to come" is the conclusion.
[2] Species, beyond:: the Holy Spirit beyond this world.
[3] Invisible, as Music:: the wonderful next world like music cannot be seen.
[4] Sound:: voice, preach, speech of the priest.
[5] baffles:: frustrates, confounds those strive for it.
[6] Philosophy don't know:: it hasn't been proved yet.
[7] Riddle:: a sieve for screening who can go and who cannot.
[8] Sagacity, must go:: wisdom must leave to believe it.
[9] puzzles scholars:: no scholars can prove it.
[10-12] gain it, Contempt of Generations And Crucifixion:: to gain the eternal life, men have to suffer a lot.
[13-14] Faith slips, laughs, Blushes:: shameful things.
[15] twig:: a divining rod (OED n.1 2b).
[16] Vane:: an unstable or constantly changing person or thing (OED 1b).
[18] Hallelujahs:: exclamations, shrieks in a revival meeting.
[19] Narcotics:: drugs that cause drowsiness or insensibility, the effect of a revival meeting.
[20] nibbles at the soul:: Dickinson's view on the Great Awakening.
Who that has witnessed the effects of a powerful revival of religion upon the hearts and lives of God's children, has failed to observe that the eye is then single, the energies and affections are cheerfully consecrated to God, faith is in vigorous exercise, the saving of souls, and the concerns of the world to come, occupy the mind, and this world, as Edwards represents it, speaking of the light in which it was viewed by the people of New England during the great awakening of his time, "is a thing only by the by." ─ Primitive Piety Revived (1855)
In the excitement of a revival meeting, amongst the cries of those who are "stricken," and the prophetic utterances of those who are further advanced in the spiritual gifts, it is only too easy to forget that this wondrous manifesting of the Holy Spirit, has had to pass through a human individualised medium, which, though its spirit is intensely stirred by such unwonted contract, has still to speak through its physical organism. In passing through the outward body, who can tell how much or how like the working of God's Holy Spirit is prevented, and its pure light refracted and decompose? A consideration of this is necessary to account for the diversity and individuality which is observed to each case, though in the main the working of the One Spirit can be distinctly traced as all-pervading the great awakening. ─ The British Spiritual Telegraph (1859)