This article aimed to determine whether distinctive features of language could be discerned in the poems of poets who committed suicide. 300 poems from the early, middle, & late periods of 9 suicidal poets (aged 30-58 years at death) & 9 nonsuicidal poets were compared. Language use within the poems was analyzed within the context of 2 suicide models. Writings of suicidal poets contained more words pertaining to the individual self & fewer words pertaining to the collective than did those of nonsuicidal poets. In addition, the direction of effects for words pertaining to communication was consistent with a model that suggests that suicidal individuals are detached from others & are preoccupied with self. The findings suggest that linguistic predictors of suicide can be discerned through text analysis. (26 refs)