Taylor Swift Makes 'Temporary Insanity’ Plea in “Tortured Poets” Poem: ‘It’s the Worst Men That I Write Best'
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In a "summary poem," Swift — who dropped her highly anticipated album on April 19 — writes about going from "a restricted humanity" to a period of "chaos"
Beth Garrabrant
Taylor SwiftTaylor Swift continues to wear her heart on her sleeve.
After announcing her latest album The Tortured Poets Department onstage at the Grammys in February, the superstar gave fans a peek at her new work with what had appeared at the time to be song lyrics.
"And so I enter into evidence/ My tarnished coat of arms / My muses, acquired like bruises / My talismans and charms / The tick, tick, tick of love bombs/ My veins of pitch black ink," Swift, 34, posted on Feb. 4.
As she dropped the album on April 19, fans learned the words were actually the final lines of a "summary poem" accompanying Tortured Poets titled "In Summation."
Related: Everything to Know About Taylor Swift's New Album, The Tortured Poets Department
"As you might all unfortunately recall / I had been struck with a case of a restricted humanity / Which explains my plea here today of temporary insanity," Swift writes in the poem.
She goes on to allude to herself as a "caged beast" who entered a period of "chaos" after earning her freedom following a years-long romance.
"And so I was out of the oven and into the microwave / Out of the slammer and into a tidal wave," she writes, seemingly referencing her brief relationship with musician Matty Healy after her breakup with longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
Throughout the album, Swift bares her emotions — ranging from longing to anger to heartbreak, and more — as she untangles everything she went through in her personal life during a huge period of upheaval.
While she's rarely confirmed who her music is inspired by, Swift remains vulnerable on Tortured Poets, making unmistakable references to her relationships as she shares her story.
"A smirk creeps onto this poet's face / Because it's the worst men that I write best," she writes in her summary poem.
During her Melbourne tour stop earlier this year, Swift opened up about Tortured Poets after delivering a moving performance of "You're Losing Me," which fans believe was inspired by the breakdown of her relationship with Alwyn.
Teasing her bonus track "The Bolter," Swift told the crowd her latest work was something that she "needed" to make.
"It was really a lifeline for me — just the things that I was going through, the things that I was writing about ... it kind of reminded me why songwriting actually gets me through my life," she said. "I've never had an album that I needed songwriting more than I needed it on Tortured Poets."
Read PEOPLE"s review of The Tortured Poets Department and dive deeper into the album's deeply personal lyrics, call-outs and more.
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