Guilt
The Ledge
Self-directed moral pain. Knowing the line was crossed. Guilt is specific and attaches to an act, which means it can in principle be discharged. Shame cannot.
The word
Old English gylt, a word for offense and for debt, with no known relatives in any other language; its origin is obscure. The oldest English translations of the Lord's Prayer used it where Latin had debitum: forgive us our guilts, our debts. The feeling still runs on that ledger.
The feeling
A weight with a timestamp. It attaches to one act, replays it with revisions, and keeps proposing repayment: apologize, confess, undo, offset. The body carries it low, stomach and shoulders, and sleep is where it does its loudest work. Painful as it is, it is oddly constructive; guilt believes the debt can be paid, and is usually right.
Against its neighbours
Shame indicts the self and wants to hide; guilt indicts the act and wants to repair. Regret can mourn any wrong turn, including harmless ones; guilt is reserved for the turns that cost someone else.
In the work
A piece built around a decision already made. The moment shown is after, and the frame includes what it cost.
No work carries Guilt yet. The element is named and the table is not finished.