The Transformation of Melancholy into Madness

As I was reading, I found the two poems extremely interesting to view. Christopher Smart brings a questionable madness to his writing while Anne Finch represents the melancholic tones of eighteenth century poetry. At the same time, I found a sort of lost sullenness within both pieces which leads me to prompt, can melancholy lead to madness and/or vice versa?

"A Calm of Stupid Discontent, Then dashing onto the Rocks wilt Rage into a Storm, Tremblings sometimes thou dost appear." (Finch 7-10)

This quote from Finch prompts the idea of melancholy. I really, really enjoyed this piece. This quote specifically meant a lot to me. The idea of stupid discontent is interesting. I believe that it shows that we as individuals can have anything and everything in the world and yet we can still be upset and wanting more. It seems that there is this pointless emptiness and there is no feeling within that discontentment. Therefore, because there is no strong emotion or feeling, it is sort of shown as this empty calm idea. There is nothing to feel or think about and therefore melancholic tones protrude through the calm. And I find it interesting that calm is utilized within this idea because it can usually take on a positive context. In this idea, it seems negative because of the vastness of the calm, like an open ocean.

Continuing on from that, that discontentment is transported into some sort of rage. It will grown and formulate and then ultimately, the calm will dissolve and the madness will appear. I liked that she said, "Tremblings sometimes thou dost appear." It seems that this can be utilized in a format that shows that things will become unstable within that madness and melancholy. It takes over the body from feeling such empty emotions to causing such a wild and angry storm within the mind. These changes are overwhelming and scary and these are common similarities between madness and melancholy.

Finch continues to discuss the ideas of rage and madness throughout the end of the poem as well. By utilizing this quote and showing that there can be rage but the weak engage in such feelings. It seems that the journey of that melancholic individual has driven them to rage. They succumb to their feelings and negative emotions quite often and they bear a load that causes them to ultimately become weak. "The tricks of thy pernicious Rage, Which do the weaker sort engage." (Finch 112-113) Although I feel that the negative connotation of this line is quite heavy, it still shows that rage and madness is sneaky and it can absorb a single person's emotions. It does not matter if the person is weak or strong or whatever they are feeling. Madness can creep up on anyone and take over to cause an individual to become weak. This is turn causes the cycle to change to madness causing melancholy. The idea of madness is so overwhelming and intense that the sadness can accompany those fears of madness.

Ultimately, the cycle of madness and melancholy is vicious and seemingly can weaken anyone.