This quote by Edgar Allan Poe explores the complex relationship between madness and clarity. The phrase "I became insane" suggests a surrender to irrationality or emotional chaos, which Poe contrasts with "long intervals of horrible sanity." Here, sanity is described not as peace or rational comfort, but as "horrible," implying that moments of clear-mindedness bring their own turmoil and suffering. The quote reflects Poe's recurring themes of psychological torment and the thin line between reason and madness. It encapsulates a paradox where insanity offers a distorted refuge, while sanity exposes brutal truths that are difficult to endure.
“I was never really insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched.”
“...the question is of will, and not, as the insanity of logic has assumed, of power. It is not that the Deity cannot modify his laws, but that we insult him in imagining a possible necessity for modification.”
“I Dwelt aloneIn a world of moan,And my soul was a stagnant tide,Till the fair and gentle Eulalie became my blushing bride-Till the yellow-haired young Eulalie became my smiling bride Ah, less-less bright The stars of nightThan the eyes of the radiant girl! And never a flake That the vapor can make With the moon-tints of purple and pearl,Can vie with the modest Eulalie's most unregarded curl-Can vie compare with the bright-eyed Eulalie's most humble and careless curl Now Doubt-now Pain Come never again, For her soul gives me sigh for sigh, And all day long Shine, bright and strong, Astarte within the sky, While ever to her dear Eulalie upturns her matron eye- While ever to her young Eulalie upturns her violet eye.”
“Such, I have long known, is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis.”
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”
“At length for my seared and writhing body there was no longer an inch of foothold on the firm floor of the prison. I struggled no more, but the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long, and final scream of despair. I felt that I tottered upon the brink -- I averted my eyes --”