Having It Out with Melancholy

“Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath (1960)

Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” remains one of the most influential poems about depression in American literature. Plath helped pioneer Confessional poetry, a literary movement during the 1950s and 1960s. Confessional poets rooted their work in their personal histories and psychological traumas, paving the way for poets like Kenyon to write about their own lives more candidly. The Confessionalist poets favored everyday language, shortening the gap between the poet and their poetic persona as much as possible. Like Kenyon, Plath used religious imagery—specifically Lazarus’s resurrection—to depict her struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts.

“Happiness” by Jane Kenyon (1997)

Kenyon looks at the flip side of her depression in her poem “Happiness.” Depression often manifests as numbness and apathy. As a result, feeling anything comes as a relief. The poem shows which presence leaves when depression stays, making it a mirror to “Having It Out with Depression.” Kenyon personifies happiness as the one “who comes back” (Line 1). Unlike with depression, she feels passionate relief too that she was “not abandoned” (Line 10).

“The Sick Wife” by Jane Kenyon (1996)

Kenyon continued to examine illnesses’ impact on relationships through her poem “The Sick Wife.