Grief

I tell you, hopeless grief is passionless;

That only men incredulous of despair,
Half-taught in anguish, through the midnight air
Beat upward to God's throne in loud access
Of shrieking and reproach. Full desertness,
In souls as countries, lieth silent-bare
Under the blanching, vertical eye-glare
Of the absolute Heavens. Deep-hearted man, express
Grief for thy Dead in silence like to death--
Most like a monumental statue set
In everlasting watch and moveless woe
Till itself crumble to the dust beneath.
Touch it; the marble eyelids are not wet:
If it could weep, it could arise and go.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I found this poem to be completely opposite in meaning from the poem "How do I Love Thee?". In "Grief" I felt sad, mad, and true grief. I feel as though this poem is about losing a loved one, not the reader losing a loved one, but the reader looking at a person who has just received the news that their loved one is dead. It seemed like the mood of the poem is very melancholy. I did like this poem a lot because it captured the true essence of loss and how it affects an individual. Elizabeth can no doubt relate to these feelings and emotions due to the death of her brother and mother. Also, when she moved to Florence with her husband Robert, Elizabeth witnessed many injustices. 

*metaphor: A comparison between essentially unlike things without an explicitly comparative word such as like or as. An example is "My love is a red, red rose," For example from the poem: “Touch it; the marble eyelids are not wet.”

*simile: A figure of speech involving a comparison between unlike things using like, as, or as though. An example: "My love is like a red, red rose." For example from the poem: "Full desertness, In souls as countries..." and “Most like a monumental statue set”   

*petrarchan sonnet: divides into two parts: an eight-line octave and a six-line sestet, rhyming abba abba cde cde or abba abba cd cd cd.