If your Nerve, deny you—
Go above your Nerve—
He can lean against the Grave,
If he fear to swerve—
That's a steady posture—
Never any bend
Held of those Brass arms—
Nerve can be seen to represent the physical human form. Nerves themselves key to the physical sensory experience, Dickinson implores us to be courageous and go beyond our limitations in thought, action, and spirituality. 
 Dickinson conveys a sarcastic tone when she suggests the man afraid to ‘swerve’ can ‘lean against the Grave’. The grave– a symbol for mortality– makes us questions the purpose of life without the pursuit of a higher experience. The grave is a crutch, the ever present knowledge of death gives man an excuse to be docile. 
 This poem is a calling to rebel outdated animal instincts for survival alone and achieve a richer human experience.
If your Nerve deny you 292