One more unfortunate

Weary of breath

Rashly importunate

Gone to her death

Take her up tenderly

Lift her with care

Fashioned so slenderly

Young and so fair

‘The Bridge of Sighs’. Thomas Hood, 1799–1845

 

This poem was a favourite of my grandfather’s, William Watkins – or Tad’cu. I can still hear him reading it in his sonorous Welsh voice. Thank you to him for sharing with me a love of literature, language, poetry and the natural world, and to Mr Hood for such a heartfelt and inspirational poem. One is always touched by the tragedy of suicide. A feeling that friends, family, the entire world has somehow failed them.

The poem continues with questions:

Who was her father?

Who was her mother?

Had she a sister?

Had she a brother?

Or was there a dearer one

Still, and a nearer one

Yet than all other?

Questions which form part of any coroner’s investigation into a suicide.

An attempt to answer the question …

Why?