270 ChApTEr 1 1 | the Union Undone? | period Five 18 44 –1877Documen t 11.11 eMily diCKinSon, “Much Madness
is divinest Sense”
1862New England poet Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) wrote more than seventeen hundred
poems in her lifetime, but most of her work was not published until after her death.Much madness is divinest sense
To a discerning eye;
Much sense the starkest madness.
’T is the majority
In this, as all, prevails.
Assent, and you are sane;
Demur, — you’re straightway dangerous,
And handled with a chain.Emily Dickinson, “Much Madness is Divinest Sense,” Poems by Emily Dickinson, ed. Mabel
Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson (Boston, MA: Roberts Brothers, 1892), 24.p rACTICINg historical Thinking
Identify: What does the first line mean?
Analyze: Who might the “you” be? Consider more than one audience here.
Evaluate: While Dickinson was not necessarily talking about political events in this
poem, what might the significance of the words “sense,” “sadness,” and “chain”
be in conjunction with the beginning of the Civil War?ApplyINg Ap® historical Thinking Skills
sKill review Comparison and Synthesis
Answer the following prompt in a complete essay that includes an introduction and support-
ing paragraphs that incorporate the documents above and any outside information from
your textbook and class notes that helps you support your argument.Compare the arguments that Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln make in their
inaugural addresses above (Docs. 11.8 and 11.9). Where are their arguments sim-
ilar, and where are they different? How do their arguments reflect older debates
about federal power under the Constitution?TopIC II | explaining Secession 27112_STA_2012_ch11_251-274.indd 270 23/03/15 5:34 PM