Depression has been around for a very long time and many people suffering from depression have used poetry as a way of coping with the disorder. Here is a list of poems about depression.
Published in 1849, ‘A Dream Within a Dream’ by Edgar Allan Poe examines the subtleties of time and perspective.
Lovers of poetry, and even those who only enjoy it occasionally, will immediately recognize the line, “All that we see or seem/ Is but a dream within a dream.” This rounds out the general themes of the poem. The speaker is questioning the reasons for his very existence. He knows that life is purposeless, there is no love for a reason to keep going. It has all turned into a dream state that he floats, and at the same time struggles through depression.
‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain’ by Emily Dickinson is a popular poem. In it, she depicts a very unusual idea of life after death.
Within the text she uses various metaphors, concerned with life and death, to discuss endings, beginnings, and the deep, unshakable fear of losing one’s mind. The speaker depicts the slipping away of her sanity through the image of mourners wandering around in her head. They are in a cycle of sorts, unable to break out or change their pattern.
Sylvia Plath’s ‘Letter in November’ poignantly explores solitude and introspection against a backdrop of seasonal change.
The poem delves deeply into the speaker's emotional turmoil and introspection, capturing the raw essence of depression with vivid imagery and poignant language. Plath's exploration of themes such as isolation, despair, and existential angst resonates profoundly with readers who have experienced or are interested in the complexities of depression.
Lowell’s ‘Night Sweat’ portrays his struggle with writer’s block and profound distress, finding solace in his wife’s comforting presence.
This piece details the intricacies of depression and how it causes several other bodily afflictions that trigger a cycle of suffering. The underlying mental illness of the speaker may have caused his night sweats for which he has become quite nonfunctional as a poet and husband.
Work-table, litter, books and standing lamp,
plain things, my stalled equipment, the old broom---
‘On Another’s Sorrow’ by William Blake describes the love God has for the world and how it has inspired the speaker to act similarly.
God’s enduring love is the main theme of the poem, and the conclusion of nine stanzas of build-up as the speaker moves through natural imagery. He discusses the worth of the smallest of creatures, such as the wren, and how everything and everyone suffers. The second half of the poem is directly dedicated to God and how he interacts with the world. If one cares for the world’s smallest and (seemingly) insignificant creatures, they are acting as God would.
‘Out, Out—’ by Robert Frost depicts a tragic accident, highlighting the suddenness and brutality of death and the suffering it brings.
‘Out, Out—‘ was inspired by the true story of a young boy, Raymon Tracy Fitzgerald, who died in an accident at a young age. He was a friend of Frost’s, and within the poem, the main character accidentally cuts off his own hand with a saw. He then succumbs to his injury after being taken to the hospital. It is generally thought that the title is an allusion to the famous line in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, “Out, out, brief candle!/ Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player”.
The buzz-saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,
Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.
‘Shut Out’ by Christina Rossetti is one of the deeply emotional poems, which expresses a number of human emotions throughout the poem.
At the beginning of the poem, the speaker is on one side of a gate. She’s looking into a beautiful garden. She speaks with a shadowed figure guarding the gate, asking that she be let in to take some flowers. These would, she thinks, improve her mood considerably. The guard ignores her and then begins building a wall around the garden. She grieves over this new barrier. The poem ends with the speaker gaining entry into a different, smaller garden. But, she remains depressed.
‘Leave him now Quiet by the Way’ by Trumbull Stickney is a complex poem that imparts a deeply devastating revelation about another man’s despair.
Depression is intensely characterized throughout the poem, and it offers an intimate look at the experience of such an overwhelming emotion. Stickney obviously had some experience in facing down life's disappointments, especially in the last few years of his life. This explains how he was able to so passionately articulate such a depressive state, as seen in this poem.
‘London’ by William Blake exposes the dreadful realities of the poor who call the city home, placing particular blame upon the religious and political institutions that have seemingly turned a blind eye to the horror.
Another emotion powerfully expressed in the poem is depression. This sentiment can be applied to the entire city, filled as it is with the crying voices of citizens young and old, as well as the speaker. Each stanza focuses on a different depressing aspect of London life: from the conditions faced by chimney-sweepers and "hapless Soldiers" to the misery endured by "youthful Harlots."
‘Anorexic’ by Eavan Boland presents a woman determined to destroy her physical body through starvation while alluding to the original sin.
Anorexia may be caused by a number of factors, one of which is depression. Both depression and stress lead one to either eat excessively or to lose appetite. The speaker chooses the latter path to take charge of her mind and not be in control of it.
‘In a Mental Hospital Sitting-Room’ depicts the languid solitude experienced by patients who’ve more hope for a distraction than a recovery.
One of the primary emotions evoked by the poem is a deep depression, the source of which is the speaker's reflection on their time in the mental hospital. Jennings' diction, imagery, and figurative language hone in on the gloomy reality of living amongst the other patients. It is a place that "disturbs," where nothing can "grow," eliciting tears, and encouraging people to "hide / And stare into themselves." Each of these creates a foreboding and less-than-hopeful atmosphere that accentuates the depressive state they're languishing in.
‘Polar Exploration’ reflects upon peaceful isolation and urban life, particularly how the latter appears to make the former impossible.
The pessimism and unhappiness of the second stanza speak to a narrator that may be experiencing depression or, at the very least, a difficult period of adjustment after having returned from their adventure.
‘Gone’ by Henrik Ibsen is a sad but moving poem that illustrates the melancholy that arrives after one’s company has departed.
The speaker of the poem is consumed throughout by an ever-growing depression. This feeling is elicited by the departure of the many guests who previously occupied and reveled within their homes. But once the grounds have been emptied they are left feeling equally vacant and lonely, a feeling that's only intensified by the poem's imagery and setting.
‘I Know, You Walk—’ by Hermann Hesse is a foreboding poem that depicts a nightly encounter between a troubled speaker and the visage of a person they dread running into you.
A depressing atmosphere pervades Hermann Hesse's poem. This feeling and mood stem from the speaker's own anxieties, which center on seeing someone they care about in their current state of anguish and grief. It's strongly implied that such a vision would only depress the speaker far more than they already are.
‘Mariana’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson, drawing from a Shakespearean play, depicts the sorrow of a lonely woman abandoned by her lover.
The poem's bleak, decaying, and lifeless world seems to mirror the suffocating mental state of depression. Mariana has entirely withdrawn from life, and her hopelessness is so deep that even the sounds and natural elements confound her. The sparrow's chirrup, the ticking clock, the wind rustling, and the sunlight all become sources of torture rather than comfort, as in depression, even positive aspects of life can feel overwhelming and painful. The repeated refrain, 'I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were dead!' emphasizes the intensity of her depression, showing the grip of the relentless cycle of dark thoughts on her.
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