Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark, And shares the nature

Hear the solemn words of William Wordsworth, the poet who gazed deeply into the soul of man and the silence of nature: “Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark, And shares the nature of infinity.” In these lines he gives voice to a truth both terrible and profound—that pain is not a fleeting shadow, easily banished by the light of joy, but a presence that lingers, vast and unmeasurable, woven into the very fabric of existence.

For suffering is indeed permanent. It may recede, it may change its form, but it never wholly departs from human life. No generation has been spared it, no man or woman has walked untouched by its hand. Empires rise and fall, wealth is gained and lost, discoveries lift mankind to the stars—yet suffering remains, constant as the ground beneath our feet. It is the companion we do not choose, the inheritance we all must share.

It is also obscure and dark, for its reasons often lie hidden. Why should the innocent child suffer sickness? Why should the just man meet misfortune? The causes are tangled, and the answers veiled. This obscurity torments the mind, for man yearns for explanation, but suffering often resists it. Like a fog upon the sea, it blinds us, leaving us to grope forward without clear sight. Wordsworth, in his wisdom, does not deny this darkness, but acknowledges it as part of the human condition.

And yet, most haunting of all, suffering “shares the nature of infinity.” It stretches beyond measure. When we are within it, a single hour of pain feels unending. Generations pass their grief to generations, wars and losses echo through centuries. Think of the Trojan War, sung by Homer: though the battles ended, the suffering lingered in widows, in ruined cities, in the memory of song itself. Or consider the Holocaust in the last century, its horror reverberating still, not diminished by time but expanded into the moral consciousness of humanity. Here we see what Wordsworth meant: suffering is not bounded by the moment—it reaches into eternity.

Yet though these words are heavy, they are not without purpose. For if suffering is permanent, then it binds all mankind together; if it is obscure, then it teaches us humility; if it is like infinity, then it calls us to courage. To recognize suffering as eternal is not to despair, but to understand that our task is not to abolish it, but to bear it, to share it, and to transform it into compassion. For while suffering itself is endless, so too is the human capacity for endurance, for empathy, and for love.

History gives us noble examples of this transformation. Consider Nelson Mandela, who endured decades of imprisonment. His suffering was long, obscure in its seeming futility, infinite in the days and years that passed. Yet he emerged not broken, but strengthened, and turned his suffering into a power that healed a nation. In his life, we see the mystery Wordsworth proclaimed: that suffering is vast, but so is the human spirit that bears it.

Therefore, O seekers, take this lesson into your hearts: do not flee from suffering as though it were foreign, nor despair when it visits you, for it is the condition of all mankind. Instead, face it with patience, knowing it is permanent, and thus universal; accept that it is obscure, and thus beyond full explanation; endure it as infinite, but answer it with an infinite compassion of your own. For in doing so, you will not erase suffering, but you will transcend it, and your life will shine as a beacon to those who struggle in the dark. Suffering may share the nature of infinity—but so too does love.