I measure every Grief I meet- Emily Dickinson

I measure every Grief I meet With narrow, probing, eyes – I wonder if It weighs like Mine – Or has an Easier size. I wonder if They bore it long – Or did it just begin – I could not tell the Date of Mine – It feels so old a pain – I wonder if it hurts to live – And if They have to try – And whether – could They choose between – It would not be – to die – I note that Some – gone patient long – At length, renew their smile – An imitation of a Light That has so little Oil – I wonder if when Years have piled – Some Thousands – on the Harm – That hurt them early – such a lapse Could give them any Balm – Or would they go on aching still Through Centuries of Nerve – Enlightened to a larger Pain – In Contrast with the Love – The Grieved – are many – I am told – There is the various Cause – Death – is but one – and comes but once – And only nails the eyes – There's Grief of Want – and grief of Cold – A sort they call "Despair" – There's Banishment from native Eyes – In sight of Native Air – And though I may not guess the kind – Correctly – yet to me A piercing Comfort it affords In passing Calvary – To note the fashions – of the Cross – And how they're mostly worn – Still fascinated to presume That Some – are like my own – (Laura) In Emily Dickinson's "I measure every grief I meet" the theme revolves around a reason of death, in which this case is grief. The reason ultimately leads to certain people being overwhelmed by despair that is brought onto them. Some are forced to carry this weight on their shoulders until they are six feet under the stars, while others get off more easily only have a small portion of the agony that grief brings to us all. The speaker also explains that you have to realize that there is someone out there that is going through the exact same obsticals that you are and that you are not alone. The poem does have an affect on me because the idea of being along in a situation is an extremely common feeling and forcing yourself to realize that you are not the only one that is weighed down with self-inflicting problems can be difficult. (Chelsea) In her poem, "I measure every grief I meet," Dickinson develops the theme of death by questionable grief through the use of diction and imagery. The speaker in the poem reflects curiousity, but also expresses to the reader that they are in a state of depression. Dickinson writes in the third stanza, "I wonder if it hurts to live – And if They have to try –." In the first lines of the third stanza, the speaker questions if others suffer the same pain from the grievances they bare. The speaker cannot overcome grief, but only measure it in great depth through not only theirself but in everyone they meet as well. In my personal reflection on the poem, I believe that everyone has grievances to bear. In my experience, depression from unfortunate circumstances is never the right direction. I have been in a state of severe depression twice. Due to previous events in my life, my mindset has altered. When someone is questioning other peoples pain and comparing it to their own, death is sometimes considerable in their mind. Dickinson's speaker expresses severe depression and question about life. I believe everyone goes through the state Dickison's speaker goes through at one point in lfe.