Isabella Darrell's "Asylum" begins as a desperate plea and ends as a confession. The speaker describes a person who has "haunted" their life, someone so chaotic that they would rather "poke out my own eyes" than endure another day. They beg to be taken away from the madness and fear that staying will cost them their mind.
Then the tone shifts. The speaker admits the other person is also "the sweetest ball of delirium," and the anger softens into something close to affection. By the final stanza, the speaker can't bring themselves to run, and sees why: they are "just as crazy" as the person they blame.
The mood is frantic and darkly funny, swinging between exasperation and tenderness. The title adds to this. An asylum is both a refuge and a place for the mad, and the poem suggests the relationship is both for these two. The speaker seems trapped less by the other person than by their own attachment.