They say that "Time....

Emily Dickinson's They say that "Time assuages" 

They say that "Time assuages,"-

Time never did assuage-

An actual suffering strengthens,

As sinews do, with age-

Time is a Test of Trouble-

But not a Remedy-

If such it prove, it prove too

There was no Malady- 

     When I first read the poem I had no idea what assuage meant and wrote it off as a rhyme with age. After looking it up and coming to find that it means "To make (something burdensome or painful) less intense or severe," I saw that Emily Dickinson was posing a contradiction against the accusation in her first line. She takes the opposite approach of the saying that time makes it easier, and says "No it doesn't". In which she refers to pigs and how aging only makes life worse, Dickinson proves a good point. With piggies the older they get, the closer they get to slaughter, and competition for food. We have all seen how aggressive pigs get around feedin' time. Additionally, she suggests that time gives people hardships and trouble. Time does not always heal. But in the end, Dickinson goes back and says there is no malignant disease.