Dedicated to Nietzsche,
that departed sage.

A Word to the Reader

First of all, I must point out that the mark placed above the word madness in the title is not a mistake. It is not even a mark of emphasis. It is a royal crown that I have set upon madness, for I am weary of reason.

The purpose of these poems is neither to entertain you, nor to plunge you into contemplation, nor even to add a single grain to the mountain of information that at every moment assaults the mind. These poems are anger—repressed anger that erupts in this form.

Unlike my other writings, these poems are inspired by Nietzsche: brief, concise, and cutting. For this reason, this work is dedicated to him.

Also unlike Nietzsche, I began this book not by addressing the masters, but by launching a crushing attack upon myself, and only then turned to the other eminent figures. Let it be known that I, too, am not cut from a different cloth.

Perhaps if Nietzsche had known what people flee from in religion, and in what forms they display their nihilism, he might never have come down from the mountain.