For a few months after my wife died of a brain aneurysm a little more than 20 years ago, I found comfort in poetry. Poems such as Theodore Roethke’s “Elegy for Jane,” dedicated to one of his students, and Christina Rossetti’s “Let Me Go” and “Remember” were no longer abstract sentiments in some anthology of literature. Rather, they echoed the feelings of my heart.
In the past half-century, researchers have confirmed what our ancestors knew instinctively: Hearing and reading poetry can bring comfort, hope, and strength in times of suffering and distress. Gretchen Schmelzer’s 2024 “The Healing Power of Poetry” is just one of many online articles addressing the therapeutic powers of a poem. She sums up some of the healing effects of verse with this thought:
