Poems about suicide

[skyfall]

What's your favorite poem about suicide?

 

[MathConspiracy]

Not directly about suicide, but there are some beautiful death poems. My favorites are:

• A City in the Sea by Edgar Allan Poe
• Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
• Edith Södergran's final collection called "A Land That Is Not"

I don't think there are many suicide poems, but does anyone else know some?

 

[ForeverCaHa]

The only suicide poem I'm familiar with is Parker's 'Resumé'. However, it's more of a 'positive' poem:

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

 

[MercenariesofMidgar]

Death Poem of Minamoto Yorimasa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


埋もれ木の
花咲くことも
なかりしに
身のなる果てぞ
悲しかりける
---

Before the buried tree,
Could bloom with flowers,
My life reached its sad end,
Fated to bear no fruit.

---

I don't love a specific translation of this haiku because it's hard to carry its weight into another language (mainly because of its compactness) but if i had to choose one i guess somewhere along the lines of this one. He killed himself right after writing this.

 

[pauly369]

I wrote this ages ago about how I was feeling during a severe bout of depression and feeling extremely suicidal.

The flowers in my garden grow down
Their colour is pain , their fragrance sorrow
Into my eyes grow their roots, feeling for tears
To nourish the hopless black void within me.

 

[skyfall]

This is my favorite poem about suicide, written by myself.

 

[ForestGhost]

This "kamekaze death poem" has always struck me: