St. Remy

I think I have done well to come here
For by seeing the actual truth about madness
I am losing my fear of the thing
And the change of surroundings is doing me good
Though there are some who howl and rave continually
In spite of that people get to know each other very well
I can for instance sometimes chat with one who speaks incoherently
A new man has arrived who is so worked up
That he smashes everything and shouts day and night
He tears his shirts violently too
And up till now though he is all day long in a bath
He hardly gets any quieter
They say we must put up with others
So that others will put up with us
And help each other when attacks come on
They told me of a case where someone had wounded himself as I did in the ear
Its almost a whole month since I came here
Not once has the least desire to be anywhere else come to me
The treatment of the patients at this hospital is certainly easy
One could follow it even while traveling
For they do absolutely nothing
Yesterday I began again something that I see from my window
A field of yellow stubble that are plowing
A canvas I am struggling with begun some days after my attack
A Reaper
The study is all yellow, terribly thickly painted
But the subject is fine and simple
For I see in this reaper a vague figure fighting like the devil in the midst of the beat
To get to the end of his task
The image of death in the sense that Humanity might be the corn he is reaping
But there's nothing sad in this death
It goes its way in broad daylight
Flooded by a sun's golden light