Poem “All Mad” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Maurine and Other Poems

Download PDF

American Literature – American Poetry – Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Poems by Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Maurine and Other Poems
< < < Fleeing Away
Hidden Gems > > >

All Mad

“He is mad as a hare, poor fellow,
   And should be in chains,” you say.
I haven’t a doubt of your statement,
   But who isn’t mad, I pray?
Why, the world is a great asylum,
   And people are all insane,
Gone daft with pleasure or folly,
   Or crazed with passion and pain.

The infant who shrieks at a shadow,
   The child with his Santa Claus faith,
The woman who worships Dame Fashion,
   Each man with his notions of death,
The miser who hoards up his earnings,
   The spendthrift who wastes them too soon,
The scholar grown blind in his delving,
   The lover who stares at the moon.

The poet who thinks life a pæan,
   The cynic who thinks it a fraud,
The youth who goes seeking for pleasure,
   The preacher who dares talk of God,
All priests with their creeds and their croaking,
   All doubters who dare to deny,
The gay who find aught to wake laughter,
   The sad who find aught worth a sigh,
Whoever is downcast or solemn,
   Whoever is gleeful and glad,
Are only the dupes of delusions—
   We are all of us—all of us mad.

< < < Fleeing Away
Hidden Gems > > >

American Literature – American Poetry – Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Poems by Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Maurine and Other Poems

If you liked this article, subscribe , put likes, write comments!

Share on social networks

Visit us on Facebook or Twitter

Check out Our Latest Posts

Maurine and Other Poems

All Mad

Leave a comment Cancel reply