Analysis of In Memoriam A. H. H.: 5. Sometimes I Hold it half a Sin

I sometimes hold it half a sin
      To put in words the grief I feel;
      For words, like Nature, half reveal
   And half conceal the Soul within.
   But, for the unquiet heart and brain,
      A use in  measured language lies;
      The sad mechanic exercise,
   Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.
   In words, like weeds, I'll wrap me o'er,
     Like coarsest clothes against the cold;
     But that large grief which these enfold
  Is given in outline and no more.