Yes! I’ve resolved the deed to do,Thus far scholars seem inclined to think that it probably is Lincoln's work. A couple of things stand out to me here. First, I am reminded of what a morbid and depressed, even suicidal, guy Lincoln was. Yet another reason I'm so fond of him. Second, the fella who turned up the poem, Miller, is an "independent scholar" doing research on Lincoln's life in Illinois, who "supports himself by painting houses, answering phones, and dog sitting." Three hearty cheers for Richard Lawrence Miller. Anyone with the gumption and dedication to pursue serious scholarship outside of academia is an inspiration to me. (A quick peek at Amazon reveals that he has written a number of books on topics ranging from Harry Truman to the Nazi legal system to our own war on drugs and seems to be a strong devotee of civil liberties.)
And this the place to do it:
This heart I’ll rush a dagger through
Though I in hell should rue it!
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Lincoln's lost suicide poem?
I saw this on CNN.com today. It reported the uncovering of an unsigned poem called "The Suicide's Soliloquy" published in the Sangamo Journal in 1838. The researcher, Richard Lawrence Miller, believes that this poem may be the lost "suicide poem" purportedly written by Lincoln in his late twenties or early thirties. This slightly more substantive piece in the New Yorker actually includes some of the poem. It's rather melodramatic: