I measure every Grief I meet Suffering Quotes

In these lines, the speaker captures the way that grief can feel like it has lasted a lifetime. It seems like her suffering wasn't brought about by some event—it's more like depression, or some internal emotional problem that's hard to pin down.

Hmm. Could the speaker be projecting here? It sure sounds like it. Of course it's couched in speculative language—she wonders—but Shmoop can't help but wonder if she isn't talking about herself here. Does she have to try?

Here the speaker uses time to describe what extreme suffering feels like. While the poem began with diction suggesting precision and exactness, it ends up using hyperbole to express what suffering feels like to the person experiencing it. So the poem is less concerned with a scientific approach to sadness, but more an emotional, exaggerated account of what it feels like.

Unlike other Dickinson poems, this one isn't only about the single speaker's feelings or point of view. In saying that other people experience grief, too, the speaker opens up the world of the poem. Grief isn't something that individual people experience all alone—it's a part of life, and it's a thing that people share. Still, the speaker is only "told" this—it's not like she's out there mingling with the sad people. What does this tell us about her character?

The poem uses an oxymoron ("piercing Comfort") to get at the contradictory feelings of comfort and pain. Sure, it might feel a bit icky to find comfort in the feelings of others, but we can't deny that we've all been there.

What is the relationship between suffering and fascination? It seems like the speaker uses her curiosity about others to make herself feel better, sure, but why's that fascinating? Does it seem downright miraculous to her that other folks could be in the same bummer boat?