Depression is a serious mental illness that negatively affects how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working. Many people experience depression at some point in their lives. It can be short-term, lasting for just a few weeks, or longer-term, lasting for months or even years. Depression is more than just feeling “down” for a few days. It’s a potentially debilitating condition that can have a profound impact on your quality of life. If you’re struggling with depression, know that you’re not alone. Millions of people around the world live with this condition. There is hope for recovery, and treatment can help you manage your symptoms and improve your mood.

While depression can often be treated successfully with medication and/or therapy, some people may also find relief in poetry. Poetry can be a powerful tool for expression, and it can help you to articulate your thoughts and feelings in a way that you may not be able to do with words alone. If you’re looking for poems about depression, you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll share some of the best poems about depression. We hope that these poems will provide comfort and hope to those who are struggling with this condition.

Famous Poems About Depression

Here are 7 depression poems from famous poets:

1. Mirror By Sylvia Plath

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.

Whatever I see, I swallow immediately

Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.

I am not cruel, only truthful‚

The eye of a little god, four-cornered.

Most of the time, I meditate on the opposite wall.

It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long

I think it is part of my heart. But it flickers.

Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,

Searching my reaches for what she really is.

Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.

I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.

She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.

I am important to her. She comes and goes.

Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.

In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman

Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

2. It Was Not Death, For I Stood Up By Emily Dickinson

It was not Death, for I stood up,

And all the Dead, lie down—

It was not Night, for all the Bells

Put out their Tongues, for Noon.

It was not Frost, for on my Flesh

I felt Siroccos—crawl—

Nor Fire—for just my Marble feet

Could keep a Chancel, cool—

And yet, it tasted, like them all,

The Figures I have seen

Set orderly, for Burial,

Reminded me, of mine—

As if my life were shaven,

And fitted to a frame,

And could not breathe without a key,

And ’twas like Midnight, some –

When everything that ticked—has stopped—

And Space stares—all around—

Or Grisly frosts—first Autumn morns,

Repeal the Beating Ground—

But, most, like Chaos—Stopless—cool—

Without a Chance, or Spar—

Or even a Report of Land—

To justify—Despair.

3. Alone By Edgar Allan Poe

From childhood’s hour I have not been

As others were-I have not seen

As others saw-I could not bring

My passions from a common spring-

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow-I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone-

And all I lov’d-I lov’d alone-

Then-in my childhood-in the dawn

Of a most stormy life-was drawn

From ev’ry depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still-

From the torrent, or the fountain-

From the red cliff of the mountain-

From the sun that ’round me roll’d

In its autumn tint of gold-

From the lightning in the sky

As it passed me flying by-

From the thunder, and the storm-

And the cloud that took the form

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view

4. The Fury Of Rainstorms By Anne Sexton

The rain drums down like red ants,

each bouncing off my window.

The ants are in great pain

and they cry out as they hit

as if their little legs were only

stitched on, and their heads pasted.

And oh, they bring to mind the grave,

so humble, so willing to be beat upon

with its awful lettering and

the body lying underneath

without an umbrella.

Depression is boring, I think

and I would do better to make

some soup and light up the cave.

The Swimming Lesson by Mary Oliver

Feeling the icy kick, the endless waves

Reaching around my life, I moved my arms

And coughed, and in the end, saw land.

Somebody, I suppose,

Remembering the medieval maxim,

Had tossed me in,

Had wanted me to learn to swim,

Not knowing that none of us, whoever came back

From that long lonely fall and frenzied rising,

Ever learned anything at all

About swimming, but only

How to put off, one by one,

Dreams and pity, love and grace –

How to survive in any place.

5. Sonnet 29 By William Shakespeare

When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,

I all alone beweep my outcast state,

And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,

And look upon myself and curse my fate,

Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,

Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,

Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,

With what I most enjoy contented least;

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,

Haply I think on thee, and then my state,

(Like to the lark at break of day arising

From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate;

 For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings

That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

6. Ode On Melancholy By John Keats

No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist

Wolf’s-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;

Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss’d

By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;

Make not your rosary of yew-berries,

Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be

Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl

A partner in your sorrow’s mysteries;

For shade to shade will come too drowsily,

And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

But when the melancholy fit shall fall

Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,

That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,

And hides the green hill in an April shroud;

Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,

Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,

Or on the wealth of globed peonies;

Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,

Imprison her soft hand, and let her rave,

And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

She dwells with Beauty – Beauty that must die;

And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips

Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,

Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:

Ay, in the very temple of Delight

Veil’d Melancholy has her sovran shrine,

Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue

Can burst Joy’s grape against his palate fine;

His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might,

And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

7. Tulips By Sylvia Plath

My body is a pebble to them, they tend it as water

Tends to the pebbles it must run over, smoothing them gently.

They bring me numbness in their bright needles, they bring me sleep.

Now I have lost myself I am sick of baggage——

My patent leather overnight case like a black pillbox,

My husband and child smiling out of the family photo;

Their smiles catch onto my skin, little smiling hooks.

This last poem describes the writer’s views of the world as an emptiness, lacking direction or purpose. The poem depicts a world in which humanity has lost its sense of purpose and feeling, and it has spoken to millions of people throughout the decades.

5 Ways To Get Through Depression

1. Reach out to friends and family: When you’re feeling down, it can be easy to want to isolate yourself from the people who care about you. But reaching out to your loved ones can make a big difference. Talking to someone who cares about you can help you feel less alone and more supported.

2. Get involved in activities you enjoy: Doing things you enjoy can help take your mind off of your negative thoughts and help you feel better. It can also help you connect with other people who share your interests.

3. Exercise and eat good food: Exercise releases endorphins, which have mood-boosting effects. Even a moderate amount of exercise can make a big difference. Asides from that, some foods have also been shown to boost depression.

4. Seek professional help: If your depression is severe, or if you’ve tried other methods without success, seeking professional help may be the best option. A therapist can help you understand and work through your depression.

5. Take care of yourself: When you’re dealing with depression, it’s important to take care of yourself both physically and emotionally. Getting enough sleep and avoiding drugs and alcohol can help you feel better and cope with depression.

Conclusion

Depression can be a very difficult thing to deal with. However, there are ways to cope with it. One way is by reading poems about depression. These poems can help you to understand your feelings and give you a different perspective on things. Additionally, they can be a form of self-care and help you to relax and de-stress.