--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Robert Frost liked to distinguish between…" description: "\"“Robert Frost liked to distinguish between grievances (complaints) and griefs (sorrows). He even suggested that grievances, which are propagandistic, s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/edward-hirsch-1614_grief_robert-frost-liked-to-distinguish-betwee_2980292.png" --- # Robert Frost liked to distinguish between grievances… ![“Robert Frost liked to distinguish between grievances (complaints) and griefs (sorrows). He even suggested that grievances, which are propagandistic, should be restricted to prose, “leaving poetry free to go its way in tears.” quote by Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/edward-hirsch-1614_grief_robert-frost-liked-to-distinguish-betwee_2980292.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/edward-hirsch-1614_grief_robert-frost-liked-to-distinguish-betwee_2980292.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/563/edward-hirsch-1614_grief_robert-frost-liked-to-distinguish-betwee_2980292.png) > ““Robert Frost liked to distinguish between grievances (complaints) and griefs (sorrows). He even suggested that grievances, which are propagandistic, should be restricted to prose, “leaving poetry free to go its way in tears.”” [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Grievances are complaints that spread propaganda, while griefs are deep sorrow; poetry should express sorrow freely, not be constrained by grievance language. **In simple terms:** Complaints spread ideas, griefs are sorrow; poetry should be free. Key Takeaway Let poetry convey true sorrow. Themes expression language poetry Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - therapy sessions - literary analysis Key Concepts propaganda grief artistic freedom Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate complaint from sorrow? - Can art free sorrow from politics? A Different Perspective Poetry may still be limited by social expectations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Distinguish Grievances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinguish-grievances-4631211/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Grievances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grievances/) [Grievances Propagandistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grievances-propagandistic-4631210/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robert-frost/) [Suggested Grievances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suggested-grievances-4631212/) ## Related quotes > [“Whatever your grievances, I'm sure we can address them without resorting to war," persisted Argyle… Nonsense," said the alien. "Do you know how many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-resnick/whatever-your-grievances-i-m-sure-we-can-address-them-without/) [Mike Resnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-resnick/) > [It is easier to recount grievances and slights than it is to set down a broad redress of such grievances and slights. The reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kenny/it-is-easier-to-recount-grievances-and-slights-than-it-is-to-set-down/) [Elizabeth Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kenny/) > [When you talk about your troubles, your ailments, your diseases, your hurts, you give longer life to what makes you unhappy. Talking about your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/when-you-talk-about-your-troubles-your-ailments-your-diseases-your/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [She released her grievances like handfuls of birdseed: They are there, and they are gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/she-released-her-grievances-like-handfuls-of-birdseed-they-are-there/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [Grievances cannot be redressed until they are known; and they cannot be known but through complaints and petitions. If these are deemed affronts, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/grievances-cannot-be-redressed-until-they-are-known-and-they-cannot/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Every man should bear his own grievances rather than detract from the comforts of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/every-man-should-bear-his-own-grievances-rather-than-detract-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Let our opportunities overshadow our grievances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/let-our-opportunities-overshadow-our-grievances/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [We are the ones who suffer when we hold on to past grievances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-hay/we-are-the-ones-who-suffer-when-we-hold-on-to-past-grievances/) [Louise Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-hay/) > [There have always been grievances and youth has always been the agitator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/there-have-always-been-grievances-and-youth-has-always-been-the/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [If you would make yourself agreeable wherever you go, listen to the grievances of others but never relate your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/if-you-would-make-yourself-agreeable-wherever-you-go-listen-to-the/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [You cannot rectify grievances from the past with today's charity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/you-cannot-rectify-grievances-from-the-past-with-today-s-charity/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [“I like to bond over mutual hatreds and petty grievances.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/i-like-to-bond-over-mutual-hatreds-and-petty-grievances/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [“The German deli was run by a distant cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm and the Great Neck Jews loved the place; they flocked to Kuch's.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-bloom/the-german-deli-was-run-by-a-distant-cousin-of-kaiser-wilhelm-and-the/) [Amy Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-bloom/) > [Never repeat old grievances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/never-repeat-old-grievances/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Jokes are grievances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/jokes-are-grievances/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) ## More by Edward Hirsch > [And my experience is the best titles, for me, emerge in the process of writing. They don't usually come at the very beginning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/and-my-experience-is-the-best-titles-for-me-emerge-in-the-process-of/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [“I did not know the work of mourning Is like carrying a bag of cement Up a mountain at night The mountaintop is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-did-not-know-the-work-of-mourning-is-like-carrying-a-bag-of-cement/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [“Fall" Fall, falling, fallen. That’s the way the season Changes its tense in the long-haired maples That dot the road; the veiny hand-shaped leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/fall-fall-falling-fallen-that-s-the-way-the-season-changes-its-tense/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [I find great consolation in having a lot of poetry books around. I believe that writing poetry and reading it are deeply intertwined. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-find-great-consolation-in-having-a-lot-of-poetry-books-around-i/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [I had feelings that I didn't know what to do with, and I felt better when I started writing them. I thought of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-had-feelings-that-i-didn-t-know-what-to-do-with-and-i-felt-better/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [I think in terms of educating a group of readers, MFA programs are very good. I just think the model of MFA programs in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-think-in-terms-of-educating-a-group-of-readers-mfa-programs-are/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [“Jonson wrote a poem and called his son His best piece of poetrie A lovely line a little loathsome I loved that poem once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/jonson-wrote-a-poem-and-called-his-son-his-best-piece-of-poetrie-a/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [After my grandfather died I went down to the basement of my family house where my family kept books, anthologies and things and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/after-my-grandfather-died-i-went-down-to-the-basement-of-my-family/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [It does demand a certain space in order to read it and I think that space is somewhat threatened by the lack of attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/it-does-demand-a-certain-space-in-order-to-read-it-and-i-think-that/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [...I put down these memorandums of my affections in honor of tenderness, in honor of all of those who have been conscripted into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-put-down-these-memorandums-of-my-affections-in-honor-of-tenderness/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Poetry is a vocation. It is not a career but a calling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/poetry-is-a-vocation-it-is-not-a-career-but-a-calling/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [You're shadowed by your own dream, especially as you get older, of trying to create something that will last in poetry. And so, you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/you-re-shadowed-by-your-own-dream-especially-as-you-get-older-of/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [The attention deficit disorder of the culture is very distressing in America now and I think it puts a lot of things at risk,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-attention-deficit-disorder-of-the-culture-is-very-distressing-in/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Now, as I've gotten older I've been able to write more quickly. Sometimes I get in the space of something and I can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/now-as-i-ve-gotten-older-i-ve-been-able-to-write-more-quickly/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Poetry takes courage because you have to face things and you try to articulate how you feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/poetry-takes-courage-because-you-have-to-face-things-and-you-try-to/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) [Explore all 222 Edward Hirsch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) ## More Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. But no matter how deeply you live, it comes to this in the end: one of you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/they-had-lived-they-d-lived-intensely-but-no-matter-how-deeply-you/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [... how much of our inner substance is it good for us to give to public griefs? The whole modern tendency to agonize over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/how-much-of-our-inner-substance-is-it-good-for-us-to-give-to-public/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [That Woman is in love with her own grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/that-woman-is-in-love-with-her-own-grief/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“You've been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don't know if I could live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ashley/you-ve-been-my-beacon-of-light-in-my-storm-of-grief-and-i-don-t-know/) [Katie Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ashley/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) [Browse all 8,012 Grief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Robert Frost liked to distinguish between grievances (complaints) and griefs (sorrows). 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