Home › Glossary › Letter M

Mad verse

Genre
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Poetry that adopts a tone or persona of madness or irrationality for effect

Detailed Definition
Mad verse refers to poetry that adopts or simulates the voice, logic, or syntax of madness—through fragmentation, illogic, or surreal imagery—to critique reason, explore psychological extremity, or subvert social norms; historical examples include the works of Christopher Smart or contemporary poets engaging with neurodiversity and institutional critique.
Example
Example in poetry:
Christopher Smart’s Jubilate Agno (“For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry”); John Clare’s asylum poems; Ivor Gurney’s fragmented war lyrics; Sylvia Plath’s “The Applicant” with surreal logic
Additional Notes
Mad verse uses erratic meter, surreal imagery, or disjointed syntax to convey psychological disturbance or social critique; it appears in Dada, Surrealist, and some confessional poetry traditions.
Also Known As
Frenzied verse chaotic lyric irrational stanza surrealist doggerel
Skip to main content