VII

I am thinking of Achilles' grief, he [Frost] said. That famous grief...that terrible grief. Let me tell you boys something. Such grief can only be told in form. Maybe it only really exists in form. Form is everything. Without it you've got nothing but a stubbed-toe sort of cry, sincere maybe, for what it's worth, but with no depth or carry. No echo. You may have a grievance, but you don't have grief.

--Tobias Wolff, Old School