Maud - Part 1 - 15.
So dark a mind within me dwells, And I make myself such evil cheer, That if I be dear to some one else, Then some one else may have much to fear; But if I be dear to some one else, Then I should be to myself more dear. Shall I not take care of all that I think, Yea ev'n of wretched meat and drink, If I be dear, If I be dear to some one else.
Maud - Part 1 - 15. - context Summary
Exploring Madness and Despair
This short passage from Maud (Part 1, stanza 15) appears in the 1855 collection Maud, and Other Poems. It stages a troubled speaker who oscillates between self-loathing and possessive attachment, imagining that being loved by another both endangers others and demands self-care. The tone and preoccupations align with Tennyson’s mid‑career exploration of madness, despair, and unstable identity.
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