13 Significant Poems about Madness

These evocative verses delve into the depths of the human psyche, exploring the complexities of mental turmoil. They may narrate the descent into madness or the struggle to find sanity in an insane world.

Poets use vivid imagery, symbolism, and metaphor to depict the chaotic and fragmented mind, leading readers on an emotional rollercoaster. These poems often challenge societal norms, question reality, and illuminate the intricate interplay between sanity and madness.

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Porphyria’s Lover

by Robert Browning

‘Porphyria’s Lover,’ opens up with a classic setting of a stormy evening. It is a story of a deranged and lovesick man.

This is without doubt one of the most powerful poetic renderings of madness ever written. The very name, Porphyria, means madness, which saturates the speaker’s perspective, evident in his calm, matter-of-fact narration of murder. He is detached from moral or emotional reality, interpreting events through his disturbed psyche. Browning crafts this monologue to explore how madness can masquerade as reason.

The rain set early in to-night,

The sullen wind was soon awake,

It tore the elm-tops down for spite,

And did its worst to vex the lake:

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Boots

by Rudyard Kipling

‘Boots’ by Rudyard Kipling is a memorable poem. In it, Kipling uses repetition to emphasize the struggle of soldiers on a forced march.

Unlike traditional poems about insanity that focus on dramatic breakdowns, 'Boots' shows madness emerging gradually through mundane repetition. The poem's brilliant progression from counting miles to hallucinating "forty thousand million boots" creates an immersive experience of psychological deterioration, while its hypnotic rhythm forces readers to feel the descent themselves.

We're foot—slog—slog—slog—sloggin’ over Africa!

Foot—foot—foot—foot—sloggin’ over Africa—

(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up and down again!)

There’s no discharge in the war!

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I have led her Home, my love, my only friend

by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Tennyson’s ‘I have led her Home, my love, my only friend’ captures the speaker’s deep love for Maud, blending joy with fear about the future.

The speaker's emotions are so intense that they sometimes seem to push him toward madness. His love is obsessive, and he speaks with such desperation that it feels like he is losing control. He struggles with extreme highs and lows, shifting between happiness and despair. His thoughts become so consumed by his emotions that he finds it difficult to see reality clearly, making his love seem dangerous.

Beat with my heart more blest than heart can tell.

Blest, but for some dark undercurrent woe

That seems to draw—but it shall not be so:

Let all be well, be well.

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I saw a man pursuing the horizon

by Stephen Crane

‘I saw a man pursuing the horizon’ by Stephen Crane is a short but incredibly moving poem about chasing impossibilities with multiple interpretations.

The man's refusal to be swayed by any kind of logic might be interpreted as a particular kind of madness or narcissism. The parable unfolds as an intervention by the speaker on behalf of a man caught in a loop of his own misguided ambitions. This also explains the vehemence with which the man rejects the speaker's advances.

I saw a man pursuing the horizon;

Round and round they sped.

I was disturbed at this;

I accosted the man.

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Sonnet 147

by William Shakespeare

‘Sonnet 147,’ also known as ‘My love is as a fever, longing still,’ is a dark poem. It expresses the speaker’s loss of control over his body and mind. The Dark Lady has consumed his life like an illness.

Madness is a powerful force in the poem, as the speaker’s love drives him to lose all sense of reason. His obsession leaves him feeling chaotic, as if he’s trapped in a mental storm where nothing is clear. This portrayal reflects how overwhelming emotions can disturb one’s mind, leading to irrational thoughts and actions, showing how love, when uncontrolled, can push a person toward instability and confusion.

My love is as a fever longing still,

For that which longer nurseth the disease;

Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,

The uncertain sickly appetite to please.

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A Prayer

by James Joyce

‘A Prayer’ by James Joyce is a bemoaning poem that agonizes over love’s overwhelming capacity to instill both great passion and dreadful misery upon those afflicted with it.

The speaker mentions twice the effects their anxiety and heartache have on their "breaking brain." This might not be an indication of clinical madness, but it does emphasize the agony they're facing, one that isn't limited to the realms of the heart or soul either. Instead, it highlights the mental toll that such arduous love can have on the individual.

Again!

Come, give, yield all your strength to me!

From far a low word breathes on the breaking brain

Its cruel calm, submission's misery,

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A Hero

by Robert Service

‘A Hero’ explores the dark struggle with violent urges, using simplicity to convey psychological conflict and tragic resolve.

Three times I had the lust to kill,

To clutch a throat so young and fair,

And squeeze with all my might until

No breath of being lingered there.

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In a Dark Time

by Theodore Roethke

‘In a Dark Time’ by Theodore Roethke is a powerful, short poem about identity. The speaker contends with their mental health while exploring their darkness.

In a dark time, the eye begins to see,

I meet my shadow in the deepening shade;

I hear my echo in the echoing wood—

A lord of nature weeping to a tree.

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Mad Girl’s Love Song

by Sylvia Plath

‘Mad Girl’s Love Song’ by Sylvia Plath explores the truth of a relationship. The speaker wonders how deep and meaningful it really was.

"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;

I lift my lids and all is born again.

(I think I made you up inside my head.)

#10

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Much Madness is divinest Sense

by Emily Dickinson

‘Much Madness is divinest Sense’ by Emily Dickinson is an exacting and poignant poem that expresses the speaker’s opinion of sanity and insanity.

Much Madness is divinest Sense -

To a discerning Eye -

Much Sense - the starkest Madness -

#11

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On Being Cautioned Against Walking on an Headland…

by Charlotte Smith

‘On Being Cautioned Against Walking on an Headland…’, describes a wandering “Lunatic” and the freedom he has from niceties and the fear of death.

Is there a solitary wretch who hies

To the tall cliff, with starting pace or slow,

And, measuring, views with wild and hollow eyes

Its distance from the waves that chide below;

#12

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Pork Pies

by Jackie Kay

‘Pork Pies’ by Jackie Kay is a unique poem about the kidnapping of a child by two other young children who may have also taken his life. It was likely inspired by real-life events.

‘No Sir,’ We said together. Pause ‘No Sir.’

#13

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Sonnet 140

by William Shakespeare

‘Sonnet 140,’ also known as ‘Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press,’ contains the speaker’s threats towards the Dark Lady. He says he will expose her affairs and flirtatious behavior if she doesn’t change her ways.

Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press

My tongue-tied patience with too much disdain;

Lest sorrow lend me words, and words express

The manner of my pity-wanting pain.

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13 Significant Poems about Madness

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13 Significant Poems about Madness

by Robert Browning

by Rudyard Kipling

by Alfred Lord Tennyson

by Stephen Crane

by William Shakespeare

by James Joyce

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