"The Suicide's Soliloquy," published in the Sangamo Journal (25 August 1838); there is no consensus among historians whether or not this poem was written by Lincoln.Sends forth his midnight moansFierce wolves shall o'er my carcase growlOr buzzards pick my bones.No fellow-man shall learn my fateOr where my ashes lieUnless by beasts drawn round their baitOr by the ravens' cry.Yes! I've resolved the deed to doAnd this the place to do itThis heart I'll rush a dagger throughThough I in hell should rue it!Hell! What is hell to one like meWho pleasures never knewBy friends consigned to miseryBy hope deserted too?To ease me of this power to thinkThat through my bosom ravesI'll headlong leap from hell's high brinkAnd wallow in its waves.Though devils yell, and burning chainsMay waken long regretTheir frightful screams, and piercing painsWill help me to forget.Yes! I'm prepared, through endless nightTo take that fiery berth!Think not with tales of hell to frightMe, who am damn'd on earth!Sweet steel! come forth from your sheathAnd glist'ning, speak your powersRip up the organs of my breathAnd draw my blood in showers!I strike! It quivers in that heartWhich drives me to this endI draw and kiss the bloody dartMy last — my only friend! Attributed The Suicide's Soliloquy (1838)