two poems about suicide, feel free to share more

[virginiawoolf]

I came across the second today, and first on here some time I think. It feels inane to post them but I hope they bring light to somebody else's day.

Resumé - Dorothy Parker

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.​

A Ballade of Suicide - G.K. Chesterton

The gallows in my garden, people say,
Is new and neat and adequately tall;
I tie the noose on in a knowing way
As one that knots his necktie for a ball;
But just as all the neighbours--on the wall--
Are drawing a long breath to shout "Hurray!"
The strangest whim has seized me. . . . After all
I think I will not hang myself to-day.

To-morrow is the time I get my pay--
My uncle's sword is hanging in the hall--
I see a little cloud all pink and grey--
Perhaps the Rector's mother will not call--
I fancy that I heard from Mr. Gall
That mushrooms could be cooked another way--
I never read the works of Juvenal--
I think I will not hang myself to-day.

The world will have another washing-day;
The decadents decay; the pedants pall;
And H.G. Wells has found that children play,
And Bernard Shaw discovered that they squall;
Rationalists are growing rational--
And through thick woods one finds a stream astray,
So secret that the very sky seems small--
I think I will not hang myself to-day.

ENVOI

Prince, I can hear the trumpet of Germinal,
The tumbrils toiling up the terrible way;
Even to-day your royal head may fall--
I think I will not hang myself to-day.

 

[deflationary]

Richard Gory by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

 

[virginiawoolf]

Is That All There Is? PJ Harvey & John Parish

[Verse 1]
I remember when I was a girl
Our house caught on fire
And I'll never forget the look on my father's face
As he gathered me in his arms
And raced to the burning building out on the pavement
And I stood there shivering
And watched the whole world go up in flames
And when it was all over
I said to myself
"Is that all there is to a fire?"

[Chorus]
Is that all there is? Is that all there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

[Verse 2]
And when I was twelve years old
My daddy took me to the circus
The greatest show on earth
And there were clowns, and elephants, dancing bears
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads
And as I sat there watching
I had the feeling that something was missing
I don't know what, but when it was all over
I said to myself
"Is that all there is to the circus?"


[Chorus]
Is that all there is? Is that all there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

[Verse 3]
And then I fell in love
With the most wonderful boy in the world
We'd take long walks down by the river
Or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes
We were so very much in love
And then one day
He went away and I thought I'd die
But I didn't
And when I didn't, I said to myself
"Is that all there is to love?"

[Chorus]
Is that all there is? Is that all there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep

[Bridge]
I know what you must be saying to yourselves
"If that's the way she feels about it
Then why doesn't she just end it all?"
Oh no, not me
I'm not ready for that final disappointment
'Cause I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you
That when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my last breath
I know what I'll be saying to myself
"Is that all there is?"


[Chorus]
Is that all there is? Is that all there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is