The purpose of this article is to compare two fundamental collections of poems of the Peruvian literary tradition: The song of the figures by José María Eguren and Los heraldos negros by César Vallejo. The author uses a comparative perspective and highlights two essential aspects of contemporary poetics: The writing of suicide and the specialization of the modern poet. To fulfill this objective, the author is based on the ideas of Roland Barthes, Octavio Paz and Jacques Rancière.