Stanza 1 Summary

Line 1

Much Madness is divinest Sense—

• Welcome to the poem, and welcome to a paradox. The speaker doesn't pull any punches with this first line; she gets right to the point and jabs it in our face. 
• What she's basically telling us is that sometimes a person who seems insane is actually the only one who has it all figured out. 
• She's not necessarily saying that those whom society stamps as insane are smart and sensible in a practical way; instead, the describes their version of smarts as "divinest."
• We get a red squiggly under "divinest" when we type it, so we're pretty sure it's just a word Emily made up to be all poetic and stuff. 
• What could it mean? Well, the base word "divine" means that something is godlike. So if something is "divin-est" that must mean that it's super godlike.
• Therefore, the speaker isn't just saying that crazies are smart; she's saying that they're like… god-smart. That's about as smart as it gets. 
• According to speaker, the mad are in touch with a supreme intelligence. So they might forget to put pants on before they leave the house, but they have a direct line to what's going on in the larger Universe. 
• Many of Emily's poems deal with her love/hate relationship with God and religion as a whole, so it's no big surprise to see the theme pop up here. 
• We also notice Emily using one of her favorite tricks: capitalizing words for emphasis. 
• Here, both Madness and Sense are capitalized, making each word seem bigger somehow. Capitalized, these words could represent all madness and all sense. More on this in "Calling Card."
• We also notice a bit of alliteration here, with repeated M sound in "Much Madness."
• There's consonance as well with repeated S sounds in "Madness is divinest Sense"

Lines 2-3

To a discerning Eye—
Much Sense—the starkest Madness—

• The speaker gives us the flipside of the argument in these next lines, saying that people who are in the know can totally tell that so-called sensible people are actually insane. 
• "Discerning" describes somebody who has good judgment and generally knows what's up. Coupled with the capitalized "Eye," it feels like the speaker is referring to all those who know the deal.
• Notice how line 3 inverts line 1; we now begin with "Much sense" instead of "Much Madness," highlighting the fact that we're directly flipping around this idea. 
• It's interesting that the speaker uses the word "starkest" to describe the madness of the sensible. 
• "Stark" means that something looks bare or severe. (Yep, kind of like Winterfell after the bad guys get done with it.)
• So it seems like the rigid, disciplined lives of normal people might seem sensible, but they're actually totally insane. 
• Also, notice how the speaker mirrors "starkest" to "divinest" in line one. By using two adjectives with "est" on the end, she forces us to compare the two words (whether we like it or not). We've gone from a kind of intelligence that's brilliant and godlike to one that's horribly drab and mundane. 
• Line 3 also mirrors line 1 in its use of consonance with the repetition of the S sound—but that's no big surprise since the speaker is using some of the same words and shuffling them around.

Lines 4-5

'Tis the Majority
In this, as all, prevail—

• We've got "Majority" with a capital M in line four, so we know we're talking about the great big majority—like all the people of mainstream society. 
• Notice how the speaker uses "'Tis" instead of "it is." Maybe we're being super nitpicky on this one, but this word choice seems to speed up the rhythm of the line; it feels sharp and accusing, like the speaker is giving the mainstream a serious wag of the finger. 
• Both lines 4 and 5 continue the idea of the "starkest Madness" from line 3. The speaker is telling us that mainstream society might think it's got itself together, but in reality it's certifiable. 
• The tough thing is that the majority will "prevail" or win.
• What can any minority do against a huge number of people who're convinced they know better?

Line 6

Assent—and you are sane—

• This line is really straightforward. You'll find no hidden meaning buried in the bowels of cryptic poeticism here. Nobody needs a guide to figure this one out. 
• "Assent" means to agree. So the speaker is saying that those who say "yes" to the status quo are dubbed sane. 
• Notice "and you are sane" is separated by dashes, punctuating the straight forwardness of the line. The speaker isn't mincing words. "Read my lips..." she says. "This is how it is."
• Dickinson also has a little fun with assonance with the repetition of the "ah" sound in "Assent" and "are."
• We've also got a bit consonance on our hands the repeated S sound in "Assent" and "sane"
• Notice how the line is bookended with "ah" "ss"—"Assent" and "are sane."

Line 7

Demur—you're straightway dangerous—

• Here, that speaker tells us that those who decide to go against the grain instantly get the "psycho" label stamped on their foreheads. 
• "Demur" means to raise an objection; it's when somebody goes, "Am I the only one who thinks everybody else is crazy?" 
• It's an interesting word choice though. The connotations of "demur" are kind of soft. In other words, the rebels the speaker is describing are more likely to start a petition than a throw a brick through a window. 
• This makes it even crazier that these types get labeled as "dangerous." By using the word "demur" the speaker highlights the fact that these types aren't really "dangerous" at all.
• The alliteration of the repeated D sound in "demur" and "dangerous" helps to hammer home the contrast here. 
• Also, notice the word "straightway," which is an old-school version of "straightaway."
• This words emphasizes that the Majority doesn't hesitate a moment to label as a threat anyone who challenges the status quo. 
• One little objection and they straightway send dudes with straightjackets to your house.

Line 8

And handled with a Chain—

• So not only are people who march to their own beat labeled dangerous, they're also put in chains. Man, that is harsh. 
• Notice that we've got "Chain" with a capital C here, which emphasizes the severity of it all. 
• If we want to interpret this line kind of literally, we say that it references the way people who were considered insane were locked up in loony bins. 
• The word "Chain" also reminds us of slavery, though, which was a hot topic when Dickinson was writing (and by "hot topic" we mean that it was hurtling the country to an awful, bloody war). Making an allusion to slavery would definitely make sense in this poem. 
• How so? Well, it's a good example of when a large percentage of Americans seemed to think that something was cool when it was obviously about as un-cool as it gets. There was a whole lot of madness going on back then, and none of it was divinest sense (but many slave-owners sure thought so).
• The "Chain" could also represent the oppression of women during Dickinson's time. Back then, there was a minority who were like, "Hey, isn't it a wee bit unfair that women can't vote?"
• Guess what the majority said back? You got it: "Are you people insane?"
• Before we peace out on this summary, take a sec to notice that "Chain" is rhymed with "sane" in line 6. Not only does the rhyme put a nice button on the last line, it also links "Chain" and "sane" in our minds.
• Aren't we talking about how supposed sanity of the majority is the thing that chains the brave few who choose to think differently?
• Yes, we are.