On a Suicide One

On a Suicide One - meaning Summary

Bitter, Mocking Condemnation

This very short poem delivers a harsh, ironic judgment of a person who committed suicide. The speaker frames the dead as a "root of Hell" planted by the devil and describes the body as having damned itself, suggesting both moral condemnation and dark, satirical contempt. The tone is blunt and vitriolic rather than consolatory, reflecting social or religious condemnation of suicide in the poet's context. The poem compresses moral judgment, theological rhetoric, and invective into a compact, memorable epigram that leaves no room for sympathy.