Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MAD'NESS, n. [from mad.]

1. Distraction; a state of disordered reason or intellect, in which the patient raves or is furious. There are degrees of madness as of folly. Locke.
2. Extreme folly; headstrong passion and rashness that act in opposition to reason; as, the madness of a mob.
3. Wildness of passion; fury; rage; as, the madness of despair.