The Murdered Traveller

William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878) · 1821–1876

common measure · ABAB · 36 lines · from Poems

When spring, to woods and wastes around,Brought bloom and joy again,The murdered traveller's bones were found,Far down a narrow glen.

The fragrant birch, above him, hungHer tassels in the sky;And many a vernal blossom sprung,And nodded careless by.

The red-bird warbled, as he wroughtHis hanging nest o'erhead,And fearless, near the fatal spot,Her young the partridge led.

But there was weeping far away,And gentle eyes, for him,With watching many an anxious day,Were sorrowful and dim.

They little knew, who loved him so,The fearful death he met,When shouting o'er the desert snow,Unarmed, and hard beset;--

Nor how, when round the frosty poleThe northern dawn was red,The mountain wolf and wild-cat stoleTo banquet on the dead;--

Nor how, when strangers found his bones,They dressed the hasty bier,And marked his grave with nameless stones,Unmoistened by a tear.

But long they looked, and feared, and wept,Within his distant home;And dreamed, and started as they slept,For joy that he was come.

Long, long they looked--but never spiedHis welcome step again,Nor knew the fearful death he diedFar down that narrow glen.

Words in this poem

unarmed a.: Not armed or armored; having no arms or weapons. [Pref. un- not + armed.]
stole n.: A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
bier n.: A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave. [OE. bæe, beere, AS. b, b; akin to D. baar, OHG. bara, G. bahre, Icel barar, Dbaare, L. feretrum, Gr. , from the same bear to produce. See 1st Bear, and cf. Barr]
nameless a.: Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Murdered Traveller is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by William Cullen Bryant, Project Gutenberg ebook #16341; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: William Cullen Bryant, The Murdered Traveller, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/the-murdered-traveller.html, id L07280.

Form and metre

The Murdered Traveller is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in common measure.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 ABAB around^A · again^B · found^A · glen^B
2 ABAB hung^A · sky^B · sprung^A · by^B
3 -A-A wrought · o'erhead^A · spot · led^A
4 ABAB away^A · him^B · day^A · dim^B
5 ABAB so^A · met^B · snow^A · beset^B
6 ABAB pole^A · red^B · stole^A · dead^B
7 ABAB bones^A · bier^B · stones^A · tear^B
8 ABAB wept^A · home^B · slept^A · come^B
9 ABAB spied^A · again^B · died^A · glen^B

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
When spring, to woods and wastes around,	8	········
Brought bloom and joy again,	6	····˘/
The murdered traveller's bones were found,	9	·/˘/˘˘···
Far down a narrow glen.	6	···/˘·
The fragrant birch, above him, hung	8	·/˘·····
Her tassels in the sky;	6	·/˘···
And many a vernal blossom sprung,	9	·/˘·/˘/˘·
And nodded careless by.	6	·/˘/˘·
The red-bird warbled, as he wrought	8	···/˘···
His hanging nest o'erhead,	6	·/˘···
And fearless, near the fatal spot,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Her young the partridge led.	6	···/˘·
But there was weeping far away,	8	···/˘·˘/
And gentle eyes, for him,	6	·/˘···
With watching many an anxious day,	9	·/˘/˘·/˘·
Were sorrowful and dim.	6	·/˘˘··
They little knew, who loved him so,	8	·/˘·····
The fearful death he met,	6	·/˘···
When shouting o'er the desert snow,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Unarmed, and hard beset;--	6	˘/··˘/
Nor how, when round the frosty pole	8	·····/˘·
The northern dawn was red,	6	·/˘···
The mountain wolf and wild-cat stole	8	·/˘·····
To banquet on the dead;--	6	·/˘···
Nor how, when strangers found his bones,	8	···/˘···
They dressed the hasty bier,	6	···/˘·
And marked his grave with nameless stones,	8	·····/˘·
Unmoistened by a tear.	6	······
But long they looked, and feared, and wept,	8	········
Within his distant home;	6	···/˘·
And dreamed, and started as they slept,	8	···/˘···
For joy that he was come.	6	······
Long, long they looked--but never spied	8	·····/˘·
His welcome step again,	6	·/˘·˘/
Nor knew the fearful death he died	8	···/˘···
Far down that narrow glen.	6	···/˘·

On this poem

Some years since, in the month of May, the remains of a human body, partly devoured by wild animals, were found in a woody ravine, near a solitary road passing between the mountains west of the village of Stockbridge. It was supposed that the person came to his death by violence, but no traces could be discovered of his murderers. It was only recollected that one evening, in the course of the previous winter, a traveller had stopped at an inn in the village of West Stockbridge; that he had inquired the way to Stockbridge; and that, in paying the innkeeper for something he had ordered, it appeared that he had a considerable sum of money in his possession. Two ill-looking men were present, and went out about the same time that the traveller proceeded on his journey. During the winter, also, two men of shabby appearance, but plentifully supplied with money, had lingered for awhile about the village of Stockbridge. Several years afterward, a criminal, about to be executed for a capital offence in Canada, confessed that he had been concerned in murdering a traveller in Stockbridge for the sake of his money. Nothing was ever discovered respecting the name or residence of the person murdered.

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