The Martyr of Alabama
"Tim Thompson, a little negro boy, was askedto dance for the amusement of some whitetoughs. He refused, saying he was a churchmember. One of the men knocked himdown with a club and then danced upon hisprostrate form. He then shot the boy in thehip. The boy is dead; his murderer is still atlarge."--News Item.
He lifted up his pleading eyes,And scanned each cruel face,Where cold and brutal cowardiceHad left its evil trace.
It was when tender memoriesRound Beth'lem's manger lay,
Words in this poem
- amusement n.
- Deep thought; muse. [Cf. F. amusement.]
- manger n.
- A trough or open box in which fodder is placed for horses or cattle to eat. [F. mangeoire, fr. manger to eat, fr. L. manducare, fr. mandere to chew. Cf. Mandible, Manducate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Martyr of Alabama is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #679; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, The Martyr of Alabama, in Poems (1854–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #679, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/harper-poems/the-martyr-of-alabama.html, id L10587.
Form and metre
The Martyr of Alabama is 14 lines in 3 stanzas. 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 64% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ---A---A asked · white · church · himA · his · the · at · itemA
- 2 -AAA eyes · faceA · cowardiceA · traceA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "Tim Thompson, a little negro boy, was asked | 11 | ·/˘·/˘/˘··· |
| to dance for the amusement of some white | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| toughs. He refused, saying he was a church | 10 | ··˘//˘···· |
| member. One of the men knocked him | 8 | /˘······ |
| down with a club and then danced upon his | 10 | ·········· |
| prostrate form. He then shot the boy in the | 10 | /˘········ |
| hip. The boy is dead; his murderer is still at | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| large."--News Item. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| He lifted up his pleading eyes, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And scanned each cruel face, | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| Where cold and brutal cowardice | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Had left its evil trace. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It was when tender memories | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Round Beth'lem's manger lay, | 6 | ···/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.