Near the end of 1954, the wife of Raymond Chandler died after a long battle with lung disease. The famed crime novelist fell into near-suicidal depression from which he never recovered. He drank heavily and died just five years later, at age 70.
Chandler completed no major books after the death of Cissy Pascal Chandler, but he did summon a brief, unpublished work, in a format he was not known for mastering: poetry. Written during the year following Cissy's death, the 27-line “Requiem” is a grieving fatalist's tribute to his longtime spouse, with opening lines that have the aura of a crime scene — and of a final glance at the victim.
