Essay 13: In C. K. Williams' "Grief," the speaker explores the all too common experience of losing a loved one. The speaker describes the pain involved in sitting helplessly by, only able to watch, while another human being slowly withdraws into death. The poem "Grief," like many of C.K. Williams' poems, is a maelstrom of memories, thoughts, emotions, and other human experiences. In this particular poem, the speaker is torn by the slow death of …showed first 75 words of 773 total…

…showed last 75 words of 773 total…is one of suffering and anguish which results from the loss of the loved one. Death's natural occurrence is one that affects us all. Whether its influence is felt personally, or through the suffering of others, the greatest endurance against death's melancholy is the cleansing process of grieving. SOURCES Aaron, Jonathan, review of The Vigil, by C.K. Williams, The Boston Globe. Williams, C. K. "Grief." In The Vigil, 29-32. New York: The Noonday Press, 1998.