............. Poet's Who've Committed Suicide Poem by James McLain

Suicides of so many Poets.
Before there was help for mental illness
And it failed my health and for love.
Lest yea forget who you are.
And remember me as I left to go far away
To a place that I cannot remember
Or know not where.



1 Sylvia Plath Plath, Sylvia
Sylvia Plath was a troubled American poet, novelist, short story writer, and essayist. Plath posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982.

2 Anne Sexton Sexton, Anne
Anne Gray Harvey Sexton, American poet and playwright, was born in Newton, Massachusetts, the daughter of Ralph Harvey, a successful woolen manufacturer, and Mary Gray Staples. Sexton is known for her highly personal, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967 for her book Live or Die.

3 Sara Teasdale Teasdale, Sara
Sara Teasdale was an American lyrical poet. She is the total embodiment of a tortured soul who had a gift for artistic expression. She was born on August 8,1884 in St. Louis, Missouri. She died at the age of 48 on January 29,1933 in New York City.

4 Vladimir Mayakovsky Mayakovsky, Vladimir
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian Soviet poet, playwright, artist and stage and film actor. He was born in Baghdati, Russian Empire on July 19,1893. he was the youngest child of Ukrainian parents.

5 Alfonsina Storni Storni, Alfonsina
Latin American Modernist poet

6 John Berryman Berryman, John
An American poet considered one of the founders of the Confessional school of poetry.. American poet and scholar

7 Randall Jarrell Jarrell, Randall
American poet literary critic children's author essayist novelist; US Poet Laureate

8 Sergei Yesenin Yesenin, Sergei
Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin (sometimes spelled as Esenin; Russian: ´ ´ 3 October 1895 - 27 December 1925) was a Russian lyrical poet. He was one of the most popular and well-known Russian poets of the 20th century.. Russian lyrical poet

9 Hart Crane Crane, Hart
Harold Hart Crane was an American poet. Finding both inspiration and provocation in the poetry of T. S. Eliot, Crane wrote modernist poetry that is difficult, highly stylized, and very ambitious in its scope. In his most ambitious work, The Bridge, Crane sought to write an epic poem in the vein of The Waste Land that expressed something more sincere and optimistic than the ironic despair that Crane found in Eliot's poetry. In the years following his suicide at the age of 32, Crane has come to be seen as one of the most influential poets of his generation.. American modernist poet

10 Yukio Mishima Mishima, Yukio
Yukio Mishima (, Mishima Yukio) is the pen name of Kimitake Hiraoka (Hiraoka Kimitake, January 14,1925 - November 25,1970) , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, and film director. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century; he was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in Literature and was poised to win the prize in 1968 although lost the award to his fellow countryman Yasunari Kawabata, presumably because of his radical right-wing activities. His avant-garde work displayed a blending of modern and traditional aesthetics that broke cultural boundaries, with a focus on sexuality, death, and political change. He is also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état.

11 Veronica Micle Micle, Veronica
Veronica Micle (born Ana Câmpeanu; April 22,1850—August 3,1889) was an Imperial Austrian-born Romanian poet, whose work was influenced by Romanticism. She is best known for her love affair with the poet Mihai Eminescu, one of the most important Romanian writers.. Imperial Austrian-born Romanian poet

12 Paul Celan Celan, Paul
Paul Celan was a poet and translator. Paul Antschel was born into a Jewish family in Romania, but as a writer used the pseudonym 'Paul Celan', becoming one of the major German-language poets of the post-World War II era.. Romanian-born Jewish poet and translator

13 Vachel Lindsay Lindsay, Vachel
American poet

14 John Davidson Davidson, John
John Davidson was a Scottish poet, playwright and novelist, best known for his ballads. He also did translations from French and German. In 1909, financial difficulties, as well as both physical and mental health problems, led to his suicide.. Scottish poet playwright and novelist

15 John Gould Fletcher Fletcher, John Gould
John Gould Fletcher was a Pulitzer Prize winning Imagist poet and author. He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas to a socially prominent family. After attending Phillips Academy, Andover Fletcher went on to Harvard University from 1903 to 1907, when he dropped out shortly after his fathers death.. Imagist poet

16 Peyo Yavorov Yavorov, Peyo
Peyo Yavorov (Bulgarian: (.) : born Peyo Totev Kracholov, ; January 1,1878-October 17,1914) was a Bulgarian Symbolist poet. He was considered to be one of the finest poetic talents in the fin de siècle Kingdom of Bulgaria. Yavorov was a prominent member of the Misal group. His life and work are closely connected with the liberation movement Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization in Macedonia. He was also a supporter of the Armenian Independence Movement, and wrote a number of poems about Armenians.. Bulgarian Symbolist poet

17 Adela Florence Cory Nicolson Nicolson, Adela Florence Cory
Laurence Hope was the pen name of Adela Florence Cory Nicolson. Born in 1865, she was educated in England. At age 16 she joined her father in India, where she spent most of her adult life. In 1889 she married Col. Malcolm H. Nicolson, a man twice her age. She committed suicide two months after his death in 1904. Adela Florence Nicolson (née Cory) (9 April 1865 - 4 October 1904) was an English poet who wrote under the pseudonym Laurence Hope.

18 José María Arguedas Arguedas, José María
José María Arguedas Altamirano (18 January 1911 - 28 November 1969) was a Peruvian novelist, poet, and anthropologist. Arguedas was a mestizo of Spanish and Quechua descent who wrote novels, short stories, and poems in both Spanish and Quechua.

19 Qu Yuan Yuan, Qu
Qu Yuan (343-278 BC) was a Chinese poet and minister who lived during the Warring States period of ancient China. He is principally remembered as the supposed origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. He is also known for his contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the Chu Ci anthology (also known as The Songs of the South or Songs of Chu) : a volume of poems attributed to or considered to be inspired by his verse writing. Together with the Shi Jing, the Chu Ci is one of the two great collections of ancient Chinese verse.

20 Marina Tsvetaeva Tsvetaeva, Marina
Russian and Soviet poet

21 Ingrid Jonker Jonker, Ingrid
Ingrid Jonker (19 September 1933 - 19 July 1965) (OIS) , was a South African poet. Although she wrote in Afrikaans, her poems have been widely translated into other languages. Jonker has reached iconic status in South Africa and is often called the South African Sylvia Plath, owing to the intensity of her work and the tragic course of her turbulent life.

22 Danielle Collobert Collobert, Danielle
Danielle Collobert was a French author, poet and journalist, born in Rostrenen, Côtes-d'Armor on 23 July 1940. She died, by her own hand, in Paris on 23 July 1978.

23 Thomas Chatterton Chatterton, Thomas
Thomas Chatterton was an English poet and forger of pseudo-medieval poetry. He died of arsenic poisoning, either from a suicide attempt or self-medication for a venereal disease.. English poet and forger of pseudo-medieval poetry

24 Gérard de Nerval de Nerval, Gérard
Gérard de Nerval (French pronunciation) was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially Romantic French poets.. French poet essayist and translator

25 Alejandra Pizarnik Pizarnik, Alejandra
Alejandra Pizarnik (April 29,1936 - September 25,1972) was an Argentine poet.

26 Tove Ditlevsen Ditlevsen, Tove
Tove Irma Margit Ditlevsen (14 December 1917 - 7 March 1976) was a female Danish poet and author.

27 Edward Stachura Stachura, Edward
Edward Stachura ['dvard sta'xura] (listen) (18 August 1937—24 July 1979) was a Polish poet and writer. He rose to prominence in the 1960s, receiving prizes for both poetry and prose. His literary output includes four volumes of poetry, three collections of short stories, two novels, a book of essays, and the final work, Fabula rasa, which is difficult to classify. In addition to writing, Stachura translated literature from Spanish and French, most notably works of Jorge Luis Borges, Gaston Miron and Michel Deguy. He also wrote songs, and occasionally performed them. He committed suicide at the age of forty-one.

28 Kostas Karyotakis Karyotakis, Kostas
Kostas Karyotakis (Greek: sta at, October 30,1896 - July 20,1928) is considered one of the most representative Greek poets of the 1920s and one of the first poets to use iconoclastic themes in Greece. His poetry conveys a great deal of nature, imagery and traces of expressionism and surrealism. The majority of Karyotakis' contemporaries viewed him in a dim light throughout his lifetime without a pragmatic accountability for their contemptuous views; for after his suicide, the majority began to revert to the view that he was indeed a great poet. He had a significant, almost disproportionately progressive influence on later Greek poets.

29 Kitamura Tokoku Tokoku, Kitamura
Kitamura Tokoku (,29 December 1868 - 16 May 1894) was the pen name of Kitamura Montaro, a Japanese poet, essayist, and one of the founders of the modern Japanese romantic literary movement in the late Meiji period of Japan.

30 Katerina Gogou Gogou, Katerina
Katerina Gogou (Greek: atea G; 1 June 1940 - 3 October 1993) was a Greek anarchist poet, author and actress. Before her suicide by pill overdose at the age of 53, Gogou appeared in over thirty Greek films.

31 Arthur Cravan Cravan, Arthur
Arthur Cravan (born Fabian Avenarius Lloyd on May 22,1887, Lausanne, Switzerland) was known as a pugilist, a poet, a larger-than-life character, and an idol of the Dada and Surrealism movements. He was the second son of Otho Holland Lloyd and Hélène Clara St. Clair. His brother, Otho, was born in 1885. His father's sister, Constance Mary Lloyd, was married to Irish poet Oscar Wilde. He changed his name to Cravan in 1912 in honour of his fiancée Renée Bouchet, who was born in the small village of Cravans in the department of Charente-Maritime in western France. Why he chose the name Arthur remains unclear.

32 Rafal Wojaczek Wojaczek, Rafal
Rafal Wojaczek (1945-1971) , Polish poet

33 André Frédérique Frédérique, André
André Frédérique (27 February 1915, Nanterre - 17 May 1957) was a French poet. He was a son of a police officer. He became a member of the Parisienne bohème (befriending people like Jean Carmet) . His works, often full of black humour (which did not save him from suicide caused by his feeling of a metaphysical hopelessness) are similar to Henri Michaux.

34 Gu Cheng Cheng, Gu
Gu Cheng (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; September 24,1956 - October 8,1993) was a famous Chinese modern poet, essayist and novelist. He was a prominent member of the ' Misty Poets ', a group of Chinese modernist poets.

35 Andrzej Bursa Bursa, Andrzej
Andrzej Bursa (March 21,1932 - November 15,1957) was a Polish poet and writer. Born in Kraków, he studied journalism, then Bulgarian at Jagiellonian University in Kraków. In 1954-1957 Bursa worked as a journalist and reporter for the Kraków newspaper Dziennik Polski. Many of his contemporaries attributed his early death at the age of 25 to suicide, while the true cause of it was a congenital heart disease. Polish / Pole poet and writer

36 Charlotte Mew Mew, Charlotte
Charlotte Mary Mew (15 November 1869 - 24 March 1928) was an English poet, whose work spans the cusp between Victorian poetry and Modernism.. English poet

37 Tadeusz Borowski Borowski, Tadeusz
Tadeusz Borowski (Polish pronunciation: ; 12 November 1922 - 1 July 1951) was a Polish writer and journalist. His wartime poetry and stories dealing with his experiences as a prisoner at Auschwitz are recognized as classics of Polish literature and had much influence in Central European society.. Polish writer and journalist

38 Jean-Pierre Duprey Duprey, Jean-Pierre
Jean-Pierre Duprey (1 January 1930, Rouen - 2 October 1959, Paris) was a French poet and sculptor, one of the modern examples of an accursed poet.

39 Georg Trakl Trakl, Georg
Austrian poet; considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists

40 Gherasim Luca Luca, Gherasim
Gherasim Luca (or Gherashim Luca) (23 July 1913 - 9 February 1994) was a Surrealist theorist and Romanian poet. He is frequently cited in the works of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari.. Surrealist theorist and Romanian poet

41 Cesare Pavese Pavese, Cesare
Cesare Pavese (9 September 1908 - 27 August 1950) was an Italian poet, novelist, literary critic and translator; he is widely considered among the major authors of the 20th century in his home country.. Italian poet novelist literary critic and translator

42 Jan Lechon Lechon, Jan
Jan Lechon (1899-1956) , Polish poet, literary and theater critic, diplomat; co-founder of the Skamander literary movement

43 Adam Lindsay Gordon Gordon, Adam Lindsay
Adam Lindsay Gordon was an Australian poet, jockey and politician.. Australian poet jockey and politician.

44 Napoleon Lapathiotis Lapathiotis, Napoleon
Napoleon Lapathiotis (ap apat; 31 October 1888 - 7 January 1944) was a Greek poet. A native of Athens, he began writing and publishing poetry when he was eleven. In 1907, along with others, he established the Igiso (s, from the Attic Greek name Hegeso) magazine, in which he published his works. In 1909, he graduated from the law school of the University of Athens. His first book of poems was published in 1939.

45 Hai Zi Zi, Hai
Hai Zi (Chinese: , March 1964 - 26 March 1989) is the pen name of the Chinese poet Zha Haisheng (Chinese :) . He was one of the most famous poets in Mainland China after the Cultural Revolution. He committed suicide by lying on the path of a train in Shanhaiguan at the age of 25.. Chinese poet

46 Lucan Lucan,
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (November 3,39 AD - April 30,65 AD) , better known in English as Lucan, was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba) , in the Hispania Baetica. Despite his short life, he is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial Latin period. His youth and speed of composition set him apart from other poets.

47 José Asunción Silva Silva, José Asunción
José Asunción Silva (27 November 1865 in Bogotá - 23 May 1896 in Bogotá) was a Colombian poet. He is considered one of the founders of Spanish-American Modernism.

48 Zhu Shuzhen Shuzhen, Zhu
Zhu Shuzhen (Chinese: ,) (c.1135 - 1180) was a Chinese poet who lived during the Song dynasty. She married an official with whom she had a bad marriage. She either had an affair or committed suicide and her parents burned poetry by her hand.

49 Torquato Neto Neto, Torquato
Torquato Pereira de Araújo Neto (November 9,1944 - November 10,1972) was a Brazilian journalist, poet and songwriter. He is perhaps best known as a lyricist for the Tropicália counterculture movement, which later expanded its influence to Música Popular Brasileira. He worked with Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Edu Lobo and Waly Salomão. He committed suicide at the age of 28.

50 Karin Boye Boye, Karin
Karin Maria Boye (help · info) (October 26,1900 - April 24,1941) was a Swedish poet and novelist.

51 Eli Siegel Siegel, Eli
Eli Siegel (August 16,1902-November 8,1978) was the poet and critic who founded the philosophy Aesthetic Realism in 1941. He wrote the award-winning poem, 'Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana', two highly acclaimed volumes of poetry, a critical consideration of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw titled James and the Children, and Self and World: An Explanation of Aesthetic Realism.. Latvian-American poet and critic; founded the philosophy Aesthetic Realism

52 Misao Fujimura Fujimura, Misao
Misao Fujimura (, Fujimura Misao, July 1886 - May 22,1903) was a Japanese philosophy student and poet, largely remembered due to his farewell poem.

53 Reetika Vazirani Vazirani, Reetika
Reetika Vazirani (1962-2003) was an American poet and educator. On July 16,2003, Vazirani was housesitting in the Chevy Chase, Maryland home of novelist Howard Norman and his wife, the poet, Jane Shore. There, Vazirani took the life of her two-year-old son, Jehan, and then her own.. American poet and educator

54 Francisco López Merino Merino, Francisco López
Francisco López Merino (June 6,1904 - May 22,1928) was an Argentine poet born in La Plata, Buenos Aires, who committed suicide at the age of 23.

55 Thomas Lovell Beddoes Lovell Beddoes, Thomas
Thomas Lovell Beddoes (June 30,1803 - January 26,1849) was an English poet, physician, and dramatist.

56 Ole Sarvig Sarvig, Ole
Ole Sarvig (Danish pronunciation: ['ol 'svi]) (1921 Copenhagen - 1981, Copenhagen) was a Danish author and poet, known for his participation in the literary journal heretica. In 1967 he received the grand prize of the Danish Academy. In 2004 his 1943 work Regnmaaleren was included in the Danish Culture Canon. He was a friend and mentor to the poet Michael Strunge, whose poem 'December' remembers Sarvig's death by suicide in December 1981. Like Sarvig, Strunge took his life by jumping from a building.

57 Barcroft Boake Boake, Barcroft
Barcroft Henry Thomas Boake (26 March 1866 - May 1892) was an Australian poet.

58 Allen Upward Upward, Allen
Allen Upward (1863-1926) was a poet, lawyer, politician and teacher. His work was included in the first anthology of Imagist poetry, Des Imagistes, which was edited by Ezra Pound and published in 1914.. Irish-English poet lawyer politician and teacher; Imagist poet

59 Thomas Cooper Cooper, Thomas
Thomas Cooper (March 20,1805 - July 15,1892) was a poet and one of the leading Chartists. He wrote poetry, notably the 944 stanzas of his prison-rhyme the Purgatory of Suicides (1845) , novels and, in later life, religious texts. An autodidact shoemaker, preacher, schoolmaster and journalist before he became a Chartist in 1840, Cooper was a passionate, determined and fiery man.

60 Johannes Vares Vares, Johannes
Johannes Vares (12 January 1890 [ O.S.31 December 1889] - 29 November 1946) , commonly known as Johannes Vares Barbarus, was an Estonian poet, doctor, and politician.

61 Henry Neele Neele, Henry
Henry Neele (29 January 1798 - 7 February 1828) was an English poet and literary scholar.

62 Ilarie Voronca Voronca, Ilarie
Ilarie Voronca (pen name of Eduard Marcus; December 31,1903, Braila —April 8,1946, Paris) was a Romanian - French avant-garde poet and essayist.

63 Juhan Viiding Viiding, Juhan
Juhan Viiding (1 June 1948 - 21 February 1995) , also known under the pseudonym of Jüri Üdi was an Estonian poet and actor.