Emily Dickinson’s poem I measure every Grief I meet sparked my interest from its title alone. I found it so intriguing how, even in the title, Dickinson chose to capitalize only the words “I” and “Grief,” which gives the idea that she is addressing the emotion of grief as a noun or person. This notion is seen in the poem as she begins to talk about grief as if it were the essence of the people around her. 

After reading the first stanza, I felt connected to how Dickinson scrutinizes other people’s grief and what they may be going through to discern if she’s alone in feeling the way she does. I think everyone, at one time or another, has felt like they were going through the worst thing in the world and that no one could understand. I also love how the word choice within the first stanza furthers the implication that Dickinson is attentive to observing the grief of others and searching for the root cause of their grief to know if it is akin to her own. 

I felt connected to the poem through the stark loneliness that Dickinson also feels and how it adds to her grief. She constantly wonders if the people going about their day feel how she does, and she seems to long for a human connection to know that she isn’t alone in her grief and pain. Growing up, I moved away from where I grew up, and I’ve struggled to make friends since then. I felt and sometimes still feel so alone. Reading Dickinson’s connection to grief and her deep desire to know that other people are feeling grief and pain as well, that even if she is physically alone, she isn’t alone in the pain she feels. 

I love how Dickinson references the different types of grief, how it circumstantially affects people in different ways, and how, despite the differences, the grief itself connects Dickinson to the people around her. It’s almost as if she’s hoping that the grief of others will curb a bit of the loneliness. I felt the way that she addressed the “Grief of Want” and the “Grief of Cold” and painted the two types of grief as the feeling of despair was real to how it feels to want something but know it isn’t for you. I felt like despair was a fantastic way to talk about the deep desire that Dickinson has for her loneliness to be cured. 

I interpreted Dickinson’s grief be one that I feel isn’t always brought to light. It’s the grief of what one so desperately wants but knows they cannot have for one reason or another. Hence there isn’t much else to do but mourn the companionship that Dickinson so deeply wishes for. I remember when I was younger and so desperately wanting to fit in and make friends with the other kids in my class, but I couldn’t seem to say the right thing. After some time I simply gave up, and began to mourn thet friends I never had, and because of this I felt super connected to this line especially. 

Overall I loved this poem, and felt that Dickinson truly encapsulates how grief stricken a person can be from loneliness. I’m not the biggest poetry fan and I often find my head spinning from trying to decode the figurative language that litters the stanzas. However, I felt like I understood exactly what emotions Dickinson was conveying through her work. I haven’t felt connected to as piece of poetry like I have with, I measure every Grief I meet and I’m very interested in reading more of Emily Dickinson’s work.

Longing for companionship, and grieving its loss.