In the Dutch Republic during the 1630s, speculation in tulip bulbs reached extraordinary heights, with some single bulbs selling for more than ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. The bubble burst abruptly in February 1637 in Haarlem, when buyers failed to show up at a routine auction, causing prices to collapse and ruining many investors. Tulip mania has since become a byword for the irrationality of speculative bubbles.

Tulip mania has been referenced in countless poems, plays, and novels as a symbol of greed, folly, and the dangers of financial speculation. The event has inspired works ranging from Dutch Golden Age literature to contemporary poetry that critiques consumerism and economic irrationality. It remains a powerful metaphor for the human capacity for delusion and the fragility of markets, themes that have been explored by poets and writers across the centuries.