SUCCESSFUL FAILURES?

 

I recently read short biographies of poet Delmore Schwartz (1913-1966) and Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), a writer and satirist. They produced much works which which remains with us. Yet, Schwartz and Parker were done in by depression, alcohol, and mental illness.

Delmore Schwartz was deeply affected by the divorce of his parents as a child and his writing expressed his thoughts about it. He was an angry and unhappy adult with two failed marriages. Schwartz's once promising career was sabotaged by mental illness and alcohol. He died alone of a heart attack in a cheap hotel in Times Square.

Dorothy Parker had an unhappy childhood. She used satire to share her feelings.  She also used alcohol to dull her pain. I've read very little of her work but she produced a copious amount of work, a lot of it under the influence of alcohol. Ms. Parker suffered from depression and alcoholism. She died alone of a heart attack at seventy-three.

I wonder what Schwartz and Parker might have produced had they had inner peace and contentment? They were certainly gifted in the use of words, Schwartz at one time being compared to writer A.W. Auden. They were successful as writers yet failed at life. What might have been. What. might. have. been.