Emily Dickinson Lexicon

curtain (-s), n. [ME cortine < L. cortīna, curtain.] (webplay: bed, end, open, stand).

1. Covering; screen; cloth window-covering; piece of material suspended by the top that can be withdrawn to the side; [fig.] division between life and death.
2. Drape; [fig.] mist; fog; cloud bank.
3. Sheet; [fig.] current of submarine water; anything that keeps one emotionally detached.