In the Midst of Winter [antikvár]

IntroductionA book should serve as an axe for the frozen sea within us.Franz KafkaThis book is a gathering from world literature of the words of those who have survived the death of someone they love. Across the centuries, from the raw emotions of private journals to the distillations of poetry, the writers speak of the pain of grief and describe their process through the spiral of mourning. I hope what they have written will help break through the frozen sea in readers who find themselves in sorrow, and will enable those who would help the bereaved to understand some of grief's contradictions. I also hope their words will prepare readers who have not yet suffered such a loss for the nature of the journey to a new self that mourning calls forth.Although the selections focus on separation by death, I believe they also apply to other forms of loss any of us might endure in a lifetime.The collection grew from my own need for such a resource when a long and contented marriage ended with my husband's sudden death. When I emerged from the first weeks of dazed disbelief, I struggled to understand the bewildering range of emotions I was experiencing, from anger to despair. I also felt the age-old need for the solemnity of a significant mourning ritual, for some form that might impose order on these chaotic feelings.We live in a culture poor in meaningful rite or ceremony. My husband's simple memorial service was consistent with what my sons and I thought would have been his wishes; but it did not persuade me that he was truly dead, or that a passage of such significance to me had been sufficiently honored. Outwardly, I appeared to be managing well, continuing my teaching, settling financial matters, trying to take care of the emotional needs ofI-''