Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson
This poem was in one of my high school literature books. I think we had to memorize it. It's an ironic poem that makes the point that we should not judge people based on appearances, especially with the unexpected last line .
"Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored , and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich--yes, richer than a king--
And admirably schooled in every grace;
In fine, we thought he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
They didn't see that coming ! Unfortunately, we often do not see the 'signs' and know how to respond. There is no 100% guaranteed way to recognize and intervene for the 'Richard Cory's' we meet in life. Even so, there are ways to be more adept and 'comfortable' in interventions. Simply asking someone if they are suicidal will not 'cause' them to do so. As a Mental Health Counselor, after asking someone if they were suicidal, I have more than once had them reply,"Thank God. Someone finally asked." Contrary to common assumptions, suicides spike not around Christmas but in Spring. So here we are in late April ---full Springtime. If you encounter someone you sense is suicidal ---what do you do? Put your search engine on QPR which stands for Question, Persuade and Refer --"the 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide." (I make the recommendation with no ties with QPR. Several years ago, I completed their training.) Also, 988 is a Suicide Hotline operating 24/7.
Again, despite our best efforts, suicides sometimes occur. Still, we can be alert. Larry Pickard has given me permission to include the full text of his poem "Silent Call" :
Satchel
My wife's father was a casualty of suicide..it effects in ways one cannot imagine...the hurt & pain is always there. Thank you for your work Dr. Wachs'.
ReplyDeleteThe poem quoted was a favorite of mine from my high school junior-year English class. Arlington wrote a number like that containing a "head snap" at the end.
ReplyDeleteHave been "close" to several suicides ... one, an outstanding student of mine ... several successful and a couple that failed. One of the latter involved a .22 shot to the head. Oddly, she had always been "odd," but after was nearly normal. However, not an approach I would endorse to improving mental health.
The other unsuccessful received professional treatment after, but the doctor said there was a certain fraction of cases like Bob's you can do nothing about because there are no signs beforehand ... person is not depressed or in other ways down. She said this group just seems to wake up one day and decides they don't want to live.
His wife divorced him, saying she couldn't go to sleep each evening wondering if he'd be in the shed the next morning with a hole in his head.
He recovered and went on to live a pretty normal life until age infirmities got to him.
Whenever I hear of something like this, I think of my brother Frank who committed suicide 30 years ago this coming summer. Thanks for this, Ron.
ReplyDelete