Remorse--is Memory--awake

Remorse--is Memory--awake--
Her Parties all astir--
A Presence of Departed Acts--
At window--and at Door--

Its Past--set down before the Soul
And lighted with a Match--
Perusal--to facilitate--
And help Belief to stretch--

Remorse is cureless--the Disease
Not even God--can heal--
For 'tis His institution-- and
The Adequate of Hell--

Through the use of metaphor and imagery (emphasized by caesura), Dickinson presents the idea that remorse is a cureless disease that will always return to consume one's mind.  The lines "Its Past--set down before the Soul and lighted with a Match--" emphasize how remorse stays in our minds even if experienced ages ago. Moreover, the line "And help Belief to stretch--" demonstrates how people try to convince themselves of not ever having done their malicious deed by bending the fact in their minds; however, the speaker claims that this is an attempt that is undoubtingly ineffective in the line "Not even God--can heal--."

The central purpose of the poem is to acknowledge the ever-existing presence of remorse in one’s mind after their deed is done.

When I first read this poem it felt like Dickinson’s experience with remorse was easy for me to relate to.  After doing something out of pure selfishness, I always feel guilty and it never seems to go away; it constantly pesters my mind until it is the only thing I can think about.  In her poem "Remorse--is Memory--awake," Dickinson accurately portrays the infamous feeling of remorse at a universal level.