Surprised Dickinson Reading

In my reading of the Dickinson poems for today (which, come to think of it, might actually be my first intensive look at Dickinson in my scholarly English career) I was really surprised to see how dark and depressing Dickinson's poems for the most part were.  Upon reflecting on it, I realized that pretty much every single thing we've read thus far (accepting Benjamin Franklin, perhaps?) has been depressing...maybe its the shaky start America got off to, or maybe its just an over-saturation of puritan ideals, but comparatively speaking Dickinson definitely isn't the most condemning of the literature we've read thus far.  Still, after the unparalleled darkness and depression of Poe and the absolute insanity of Hawthorne, for whatever reason (maybe just my former ignorance of her work) I was expecting something a little more...uplifting from Dickinson.  From the very outset of most every poem, things seemed dark..."success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed," "a certain Slant of light...that oppresses," "I like a look of agony" just shot me down out of the sky of happiness in flames so fast I didn't even know what had happened.  "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" was the only one of the poems I had already read, but it was definitely good to revisit it...this is really where Dickinson turned on a coin for me and started to sound more like I was expecting her to.  My favorite poem of the bunch, though, was definitely This world is not conclusion-despite the ominous eerieness that pervades it.  When I first read the last two lines "Narcotics cannot still the Tooth that nibbles at the soul," it seemed to come across as the most powerful line of literature I could remember reading.  It definitely produces some thought-but behind that thought that varies by the reader, powerful lines like this seem to suggest an undeniable undertone of known truth.  And for Dickinson to end a poem with a dash...I personally thought that was kind of hilarious, just because she had been ending lines with dashes the whole poem it at first glance looks like she may have just stuck it in there for good measure, but it also creates a kind of open-endedness to go with the end of the poem that pairs very well with her closing line...almost like the dash is an invitation to ponder thoughtfully on what the poem really means to you as an individual, because there are certainly a lot of conversations it opens up depending on your interpretation.  I personally think it just echoes her first line-that this world is not conclusion, because "narcotics" (a man-made entity) "cannot still the Tooth that nibbles at the soul."  What I take from this is, as powerful as we may think ourselves to be, we aren't God and we don't have all the answers, and we can't change our world or ourselves as people through our own trifling mortal creations.  There is something bigger than all of this, this world is not conclusion, and nothing we say, do, or think will change that.  And I think that's a good reminder to have, to help us take ourselves off of our high horses and give ourselves up to life and God in appreciation of this experience for what is is now and what it will be, in its elusive conclusion.