Poems about suffering dive into the depths of human sorrow, exploring the emotional landscape created by immense pain and anguish. These verses offer an unfiltered examination of the human condition, encapsulating the darkness of despair and the relentless quest for hope and meaning.
They traverse the spectrum of suffering – from losing loved ones to confronting various adversities, including the scars of human-made conflicts and political upheavals, mental illnesses, such as suicidal ideation, and the misery experienced by marginalized groups. Additionally, they shed light on the plight of other beings, expanding the discourse beyond human suffering.
Notably, these poems capture the essence of human suffering, acknowledging it as an intrinsic and inevitable aspect of existence. While reflecting on existential suffering, they meditate on human frailty and the meaninglessness of existence as espoused by existentialist philosophy. Nevertheless, they also eulogize the great suffering endured by people and pay tribute to human resilience.
‘Lying in Grass’ by Hermann Hesse rallies in opposition to life’s dogged sorrows in favor of relishing its elusive moments of joy.
The poem meditates on existential suffering, reflecting on the broader existential crisis of human existence. It encapsulates all facets of human suffering, wondering if the moments of happiness and beauty of nature are nothing but mere illusions in the face of the ultimate truth of human existence, i.e., it is essentially drowned in suffering. Although towards the end, 'Lying in Grass' stresses cherishing the momentary pleasures of human life, it nevertheless underscores the perpetual suffering of life - the existential anxiety of meaninglessness is captured aptly in lines like, 'Only grief, only agony, only meaningless fumbling.'
Is this everything now, the quick delusions of flowers,
This poem delves into death, rebirth, and the endurance of suffering, drawing parallels to the biblical figure of Lazarus.
This autobiographical poem is considered a representation of Plath's suicidal thoughts and ensuing attempts, offering an insight into the psyche of a suicidal mind and its suffering. The speaker has no autonomy and suffers from patriarchal oppression, symbolized by the painful scars on her body. Interestingly, the poem also meditates on the human fascination with the spectacle of suffering and others' pain; a woman's or the speaker's suffering is like a spectacle of entertainment for people as she is metaphorically resurrected to hellish life again and again against her wishes.
‘The Wound-Dresser’ is a powerful poem that weighs the lofty reasons given to wage war with the bloody realities of its cost to human life.
This poem stands out amongst Whitman's other poems about the American Civil War because of its detailed, visceral accounts of suffering. Apart from the compassion expressed by the speaker, there is very little hope to be found in the poem, only a soberingly dreadful illustration of hellish misery. His imagery is unapologetic in its account of everything they've witnessed while volunteering in military hospitals and it's this recognition of war as a perpetrator of suffering that seems to be their main point in writing the poem.
An old man bending I come among new faces,
Years looking backward resuming in answer to children,
Come tell us old man, as from young men and maidens that love me,
(Arous’d and angry, I’d thought to beat the alarum, and urge relentless war,
‘Death of a Young Woman’ by Gillian Clarke depicts how a loved one’s death lets a person free from their inward, endless suffering.
The poem portrays the release from prolonged agony for both the deceased woman and the man who cared for her. While her death brings sorrow, it also signifies an end to her suffering, symbolizing a form of release. The man's tears reflect his pain, yet there's a subtle sense of relief intertwined with his sadness, knowing that the burden of her and his suffering has finally been lifted. Thus, the poem shows the presence of solace within pain - how, within suffering, there can be a bittersweet release.
‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’ by John Keats is an intriguing narrative that explores death, decay, and love with a supernatural aura.
The knight's suffering is portrayed across multiple dimensions. Physically, he is described as pale and withering, with anguish moistening his brow and fever-dew on his cheeks, indicating his deteriorating state. Emotionally and mentally, he experiences immense despair and longing, unable to move past the lady's abandonment. Spiritually, he is trapped in a perpetual state of torment, unable to find solace or redemption. Nature reflects his eternal suffering through the imagery of withered sedge, mirroring the knight's desolation and serving as a bleak reminder of his doomed existence.
‘The Things We Dare Not Tell’ explores humanity’s tendency to suffer alone and in silence, choosing to hide under a mask rather than open up.
At the center of Lawson's poem is a particular type of suffering, the kind that festers under the surface of attempts to pretend it neither exists nor has any emotional effect. Even the widespread nature of this pain is not enough to offer the solace of camaraderie given that each person endeavors to hide it from the other. Humanity suffers in isolation, the poem seems to affirm with every line, enduring a tormented existence that can be survived but not without having your heart broken.
The fields are fair in autumn yet, and the sun's still shining there,
But we bow our heads and we brood and fret, because of the masks we wear;
Or we nod and smile the social while, and we say we're doing well,
But we break our hearts, oh, we break our hearts! for the things we must not tell.
‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen explores the suffering, alienation, and traumatic life of a disabled soldier who participated in the Great War.
The poem depicts the immense physical and mental suffering endured by soldiers who fight in wars. The protagonist, who lost his limbs in the Great War, now suffers from societal alienation and thus endures a life lacking purpose, dreams, and hope. The memories of good pre-war times haunt him as he can't bear the present disabled state that renders him useless in an apathetic, able-bodied-centered society. His restlessness in locking himself inside forever presents the extent of his insufferable mental anguish.
In ‘Memory of the Night of the 4th,’ Victor Hugo vividly conveys the devastating impact of violence on innocence and humanity.
This poem captures the human emotion of suffering, portraying the intense pain of the characters over the tragic death of a child. It shows the physical suffering experienced by the child through shocking lines like he 'received two bullets to the head' and 'His skull was cracked open' while the family members endure emotional suffering as they undress the dead body of the child. The poem criticizes violence while underscoring that suffering is inevitable and an inherent part of human existence.
The child had received two bullets to the head.
The home was tidy, humble, peaceable, respectable;
Gunn’s ‘The Man with Night Sweats’ contrasts past vitality with present fragility, capturing the intimate pain of AIDS.
The theme of suffering is an integral part of this piece. Gunn makes use of vivid imagery and uses a first-person narrative technique in order to give his words authenticity. He captures the way a lonely speaker suffers from night sweats and describes how there is no one to help him.
Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market,’ narrates the fantastical tale of Laura and Lizzie, delving into sin, redemption, and sisterhood.
Laura and Lizzie suffer immensely from encountering deceptive and vicious goblins. After consuming the goblins' fruits, Laura is consumed by an aching, unsatiable desire that eats away her tree of life and doesn't let her do anything, even eat or sleep, pushing her closer to death every day. Her continuous tears, pain, restlessness, and dwindling physical health emphasize the extent of her suffering. Lizzie suffers from the emotional agony of watching her sister wither. She makes the ultimate sacrifice and suffers the goblins' intense physical violence and abuse to get the antidote for Laura. The sisters' emotional union emphasizes the repentance and redemption gained through the suffering they have endured.
‘Boots’ by Rudyard Kipling is a memorable poem. In it, Kipling uses repetition to emphasize the struggle of soldiers on a forced march.
The poem redefines suffering by showing how mundane repetition can become torture. Rather than focusing on physical pain or emotional loss, 'Boots' reveals how the simple act of marching becomes an instrument of torment, demonstrating how suffering can emerge from the most basic human actions.
We're foot—slog—slog—slog—sloggin’ over Africa!
Foot—foot—foot—foot—sloggin’ over Africa—
(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up and down again!)
Lowell’s ‘Night Sweat’ portrays his struggle with writer’s block and profound distress, finding solace in his wife’s comforting presence.
This piece is about the suffering of a speaker caused by writer's block and night sweats. The child within him suffers as his spontaneity is stalled and his energy is wrung out by the illness.
Work-table, litter, books and standing lamp,
plain things, my stalled equipment, the old broom---
In ‘Sonnet 129,’ William Shakespeare describes the nature of lust and its effect on an individual’s mind and spirit.
This sonnet taps on the theme of inward suffering by presenting the wild effects of lust. The strong urge to have sex brings momentary pleasure but it causes emotional turmoil afterwards.
Stevie Smith’s ‘Not Waving but Drowning’ is a tragic account of a dead man whose cry for help is mistakenly regarded as a mere greeting.
The man in Smith’s poem tried to call for help and received none. Hence, Smith anticipates he might have died or he was going to die at some point. The way people misunderstood him intensified his suffering. Thus knowing no way out he had to accept death.
‘Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady’ by Alexander Pope laments a lady’s tragic fate, delving into love, ambition, and the inevitability of mortality.
One of the Pope's best-known poems shows the human reverence of suffering as the speaker laments the death and eulogizes the suffering of a lady who died by suicide. It emphasizes her suffering with the bleeding bosom, betrayal, and untimely death, creating a poignant depiction of her ordeal. The poem's reflective and elegiac tone underscores the magnitude of her suffering, while the exploration of love, ambition, and their consequences highlights the enduring emotional and physical distress she experienced alone.
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