In the poem by Emily Dickinson "It Was Not Death, for I Stood Up," the main character has just lost a loved one and feels such devastation that cannot be put into words, but could only be described as "not" something. She feels such loss at her loved one"s burial, that his "burial reminded [her] of [hers]". He has been a huge part of her life, so when he dies, that part of her dies also, and is buried with him. She cannot put the feeling of devastation into words, for if pain can be described, it has a mortal...
or spar." It always makes one feel better when he can change something or turn the feeling of nothing into something else. But here she cannot even feel anger because in death there is no one to feel the anger against. She is without "even a report of land to justify despair." The character does not even feel hopeless because she has forgotten what hope - "land" -feels like. The feeling of the character is so overwhelming, unbearable, and intangible that it cannot be described in words, and can only be expressed through negations of emotions and powerful imagery.