Emily Dickinson Lexicon

chasm, n. [L. < Gk. chasma, a yawning hollow.] (webplay: fissure, gap).

Cleft; crack; crevice; abyss; fracture; sinkhole; geologic fault line; gap in the earth; [fig.] open grave; break in the earth for a burial plot; [metaphor] loss; funeral; separation of body and spirit; [metaphor] divergence; profound difference; divergence of character; breech of relations; disparity of position, feelings, interests, and so forth.