Bitter, Bitter Tears: Nineteenth-Century Diarists and Twentieth-Century Grief Theories

That the pathology of grief was understood in the past by poets and others can be seen in Henry King's verse of 1657: "Sleep on my Love, in thy cold bed.... Till age, or grief, or sickness, must/Marry my body to that dust." Current psychiatric practice recognizes that bereavement, which is the normal reaction to grief and mourning, if not resolved can lead to a chronic state of mental illness. Chronic depression is manifest periodically in relation to anniversaries or other reawakenings of memories of the original grief. This book deals with a study of the problem of grief as manifested in the writings of 56 Canadian and United States 19th-Century diarists. The writings are analyzed in the light of their contribution to 20th-century theories of grief and separation. The study is by a sociologist, and from that point of view, conclusions concern the process of grief rather than the