Emily Dickinson Lexicon

madness, n. [see mad, adj.]

1. Disassociation; psychosis; severe shock; nervous breakdown; a coping response after trauma.
2. Distraction; preoccupation; absent-mindedness; [fig.] artistic genius; intellectual brilliance; poetic creativity.
3. Disorder; craziness; passion; frivolity; erratic behavior; lack of caution; [fig.] windiness; unpredictable weather.
4. Ecstacy; rapture; jubilee; exhilaration.