Abraham Lincoln is probably one of the most misunderstood characters in American history. To him such characteristics are attributed as would be attributed to a titan, for his work at the helm of a country in tribulation. You may think all of these characteristics are true: the simple moralist, the righteous patriot, the wrestler, the self assured conqueror of the evils of America past, etc. That is, unless you ever read any of his private correspondences, and especially his poetry. Abraham Lincoln was an exceptionally melancholic figure, and it is well-manifested in his poetry...notwithstanding in the following work, which was attributed to him. The poem is called "The Suicide's Soliloquy" and there is a written preface that precedes it. The poem was published in the Sagamo Journal in 1838.
THE SUICIDE'S SOLILOQUY.
The following lines were said to have been found
near the bones of a man supposed to have committed
suicide, in a deep forest, on the Flat Branch of the
Sangamon, some time ago.
Here, where the lonely hooting owl
Sends forth his midnight moans,Fierce wolves shall o'er my carcase growl,Or buzzards pick my bones.
No fellow-man shall learn my fate,Or where my ashes lie;Unless by beasts drawn round their bait,Or by the ravens' cry.
Yes! I've resolved the deed to do,And this the place to do it:This heart I'll rush a dagger through,Though I in hell should rue it!
Hell! What is hell to one like meWho pleasures never know;By friends consigned to misery,By hope deserted too?
To ease me of this power to think,That through my bosom raves,I'll headlong leap from hell's high brink,And wallow in its waves.
Though devils yell, and burning chainsMay waken long regret;Their frightful screams, and piercing pains,Will help me to forget.
Yes! I'm prepared, through endless night,To take that fiery berth!Think not with tales of hell to frightMe, who am damn'd on earth!
Sweet steel! come forth from out your sheath,And glist'ning, speak your powers;Rip up the organs of my breath,And draw my blood in showers!
I strike! It quivers in that heartWhich drives me to this end;I draw and kiss the bloody dart,My last—my only friend!
BAM!!
Bam cat has a point...take all that in, and then I'm gonna go ahead and snap back and reevaluate what the hell just happened here:
Technically, the poem is stanzaic, consisting of four lines per stanza. The metric feet per line alternate with the first and third lines of each stanza being iambic quadrameter, and the second and fourth lines being in iambic trimeter. Each line rhyming with the corresponding alternate...yawn. whatever. not important. This is a simple vehicle for rhymed poetry, designed to maximize on structure within a metered poem, while facilitating a flow and ease of rhyme. So what makes this poem interesting, apart than the fact that it contains some pretty rad/uncool emo "the world hates me" affectations?
It is a little story isn't it, in the beginning? The scene is laid out before you...Here where the lowly hooting owl sends forth it's midnight moans...wolves are gonna start pickin' at him, and then the imperative statements start flowing out of him like a loose fire hydrant. Yes! I've resolved the thing to do, and this the place to do it...already the language he is using lends itself to a man, long weary with the things that have been picking at him in his life...the "wolves" if you will. All of this inspiration, and before the advent of the civil war. Where did this come from buddy? Well, this isn't a history blog, but I entreat you to get behind this author and read some of his correspondences. It is my assertion that Abe's honestly is drawn not from his altruism, but from a need to express one's self even despite caution, or how the candid situation may be publicized. At one point he is even on record as saying, "The Bible is not my book, nor Christianity, my religion."
This poem is interesting because there is adequate use of natural imagery to express the emotion that the poet is trying to express. This poem is interesting because there is a clear delineation between the beginning, progression, and conclusion of the poem.
What does that mean?
This vehicle is well suited to drive the character, in the poem, over to the inevitable conclusion of the emotion that envelops someone when they consider suicide. AND it is a soliloquy. Which means that nobody, in theory, is around when the character is saying this.
Technically, the poem is stanzaic, consisting of four lines per stanza. The metric feet per line alternate with the first and third lines of each stanza being iambic quadrameter, and the second and fourth lines being in iambic trimeter. Each line rhyming with the corresponding alternate...yawn. whatever. not important. This is a simple vehicle for rhymed poetry, designed to maximize on structure within a metered poem, while facilitating a flow and ease of rhyme. So what makes this poem interesting, apart than the fact that it contains some pretty rad/uncool emo "the world hates me" affectations?
It is a little story isn't it, in the beginning? The scene is laid out before you...Here where the lowly hooting owl sends forth it's midnight moans...wolves are gonna start pickin' at him, and then the imperative statements start flowing out of him like a loose fire hydrant. Yes! I've resolved the thing to do, and this the place to do it...already the language he is using lends itself to a man, long weary with the things that have been picking at him in his life...the "wolves" if you will. All of this inspiration, and before the advent of the civil war. Where did this come from buddy? Well, this isn't a history blog, but I entreat you to get behind this author and read some of his correspondences. It is my assertion that Abe's honestly is drawn not from his altruism, but from a need to express one's self even despite caution, or how the candid situation may be publicized. At one point he is even on record as saying, "The Bible is not my book, nor Christianity, my religion."
This poem is interesting because there is adequate use of natural imagery to express the emotion that the poet is trying to express. This poem is interesting because there is a clear delineation between the beginning, progression, and conclusion of the poem.
What does that mean?
It means that the poem utilizes rhyme, not for the sake of rhyming (although, undoubtedly, Abe did associate poetic notions with rhymed and metered poems throughout his body of work) but RATHER, good ole' "honest" Abe understood that iambs have implications for motion...that iambs have parallels with emotional and anatomical physiology (the beating of a heart often being associated with iambs).
This vehicle is well suited to drive the character, in the poem, over to the inevitable conclusion of the emotion that envelops someone when they consider suicide. AND it is a soliloquy. Which means that nobody, in theory, is around when the character is saying this.
Have you ever felt so desperate about a situation that you begin to analyse and speak it aloud to yourself? Anyone failed to commit suicide, maybe you wrote a note and you spoke the words out loud to yourself as you were writing them? What did your heart feel like when you were writing those words? Did your hand start shaking? Perhaps you were steady, or resigned, or trembling, or relieved? Then you pick up the note and hold it twixt your thumb and a dagger. Abe is jiving with ya. Abe had 99 problems and a B!%ch WAS one (you're welcome jay-z afficionados).
Maybe you pick up the letter and it reads exactly like this...and you take your life. Then someone, down by the river where all the madness took place, plucks it up from under a stone and publishes it in a newspaper. You know ABE'S NAME WASN'T on this one. This is where you have to be when you pick the poem up. Pass the razorblades to your left, and welcome to the first installment of Poetry Snapback with Cullen Gandy.
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