Act II: Scene II. — The Green in Front of the Meeting-House in Salem Village. People Coming and Going. Enter Giles Corey
COREY.A melancholy end! Who would have thoughtThat Bridget Bishop e'er would come to this?Accused, convicted, and condemned to deathFor Witchcraft! And so good a woman too!
A FARMER.Good morrow, neighbor Corey.
COREY (not hearing him).Who is safe?How do I know but under my own roofI too may harbor Witches, and some DevilBe plotting and contriving against me?
FARMER.He does not hear. Good morrow, neighbor Corey!
COREYGood morrow.
FARMER.Have you seen John Proctor lately?
COREY.No, I have not.
FARMER.Then do not see him, Corey.
COREY.Why should I not?
FARMER.Because he's angry with you.So keep out of his way. Avoid a quarrel.
COREY.Why does he seek to fix a quarrel on me?
FARMER.He says you burned his house.
COREY.I burn his house?If he says that, John Proctor is a liar!The night his house was burned I was in bed,And I can prove it! Why, we are old friends!He could not say that of me.
FARMER.He did say it.I heard him say it.
COREY.Then he shall unsay it.
FARMER.He said you did it out of spite to himFor taking part against you in the quarrelYou had with your John Gloyd about his wages.He says you murdered Goodell; that you trampledUpon his body till he breathed no more.And so beware of him; that's my advice!
COREY.By heaven! this is too much! I'll seek him out,And make him eat his words, or strangle him.I'll not be slandered at a time like this,When every word is made an accusation,When every whisper kills, and every manWalks with a halter round his neck!
What now?GLOYD.I came to look for you. The cattle--
COREY.Well,What of them? Have you found them?
GLOYD.They are dead.I followed them through the woods, across the meadows;Then they all leaped into the Ipswich River,And swam across, but could not climb the bank,And so were drowned.
COREY.You are to blame for this;For you took down the bars, and let them loose.
GLOYD.That I deny. They broke the fences down.You know they were bewitched.
COREY.Ah, my poor cattle!The Evil Eye was on them; that is true.Day of disaster! Most unlucky day!Why did I leave my ploughing and my reapingTo plough and reap this Sodom and Gomorrah?Oh, I could drown myself for sheer vexation!
GLOYD.He's going for his cattle. He won't find them.By this time they have drifted out to sea.They will not break his fences any more,Though they may break his heart. And what care I?
Words in this poem
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- avoid v. t.
- To empty. Wyclif. [OF. esvuidier, es (L. ex) + vuidier, voidier, to empty. See Void, a.]
- liar n.
- A person who knowingly utters falsehood; one who lies. [OE. liere. See Lie to falsify.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- unsay v. t.
- To recant or recall, as what has been said; to refract; to take back again; to make as if not said. [1st pref. un- + say.]
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- disaster n.
- An unpropitious or baleful aspect of a planet or star; malevolent influence of a heavenly body; hence, an ill portent. [F. désastre; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + astre star, fr. L. astrum; a word of astrological origin. See Aster, Astral, Star.]
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act II: Scene II. — The Green in Front of the Meeting-House in Salem Village. People Coming and Going. Enter Giles Corey is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Act II: Scene II. — The Green in Front of the Meeting-House in Salem Village. People Coming and Going. Enter Giles Corey, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/act-ii-scene-ii-the-green-in-front-of-the-meeting-house-in-s.html, id L19238.
Form and metre
Act II: Scene II. — The Green in Front of the Meeting-House in Salem Village. People Coming and Going. Enter Giles Corey is 86 lines in 24 stanzas.
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.
- 14 -AA farmer · itA · itA
- 17 ----AA- corey · out · him · this · accusationA · manA · neck
- 24 --A-A gloyd · them · seaA · more · iA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| A melancholy end! Who would have thought | 10 | ·/˘·˘····· |
| That Bridget Bishop e'er would come to this? | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Accused, convicted, and condemned to death | 10 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| For Witchcraft! And so good a woman too! | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| A FARMER. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Good morrow, neighbor Corey. | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| COREY (not hearing him). | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Who is safe? | 3 | ··· |
| How do I know but under my own roof | 10 | ·········· |
| I too may harbor Witches, and some Devil | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Be plotting and contriving against me? | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| FARMER. | 2 | /˘ |
| He does not hear. Good morrow, neighbor Corey! | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| COREY | 2 | /˘ |
| Good morrow. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| FARMER. | 2 | /˘ |
| Have you seen John Proctor lately? | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| No, I have not. | 4 | ···· |
| FARMER. | 2 | /˘ |
| Then do not see him, Corey. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| Why should I not? | 4 | ···· |
| FARMER. | 2 | /˘ |
| Because he's angry with you. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| So keep out of his way. Avoid a quarrel. | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| Why does he seek to fix a quarrel on me? | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| FARMER. | 2 | /˘ |
| He says you burned his house. | 6 | ······ |
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| I burn his house? | 4 | ···· |
| If he says that, John Proctor is a liar! | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| The night his house was burned I was in bed, | 10 | ·········· |
| And I can prove it! Why, we are old friends! | 10 | ·········· |
| He could not say that of me. | 7 | ······· |
| FARMER. | 2 | /˘ |
| He did say it. | 4 | ···· |
| I heard him say it. | 5 | ····· |
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| Then he shall unsay it. | 6 | ······ |
| FARMER. | 2 | /˘ |
| He said you did it out of spite to him | 10 | ·········· |
| For taking part against you in the quarrel | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| You had with your John Gloyd about his wages. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| He says you murdered Goodell; that you trampled | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Upon his body till he breathed no more. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And so beware of him; that's my advice! | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| By heaven! this is too much! I'll seek him out, | 10 | ·/········ |
| And make him eat his words, or strangle him. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I'll not be slandered at a time like this, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| When every word is made an accusation, | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| When every whisper kills, and every man | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Walks with a halter round his neck! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What now? | 2 | ·· |
| GLOYD. | 1 | · |
| I came to look for you. The cattle-- | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| Well, | 1 | · |
| What of them? Have you found them? | 7 | ······· |
| GLOYD. | 1 | · |
| They are dead. | 3 | ··· |
| I followed them through the woods, across the meadows; | 12 | ·/˘····˘/·/· |
| Then they all leaped into the Ipswich River, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And swam across, but could not climb the bank, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And so were drowned. | 4 | ···· |
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| You are to blame for this; | 6 | ······ |
| For you took down the bars, and let them loose. | 10 | ·········· |
| GLOYD. | 1 | · |
| That I deny. They broke the fences down. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| You know they were bewitched. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| Ah, my poor cattle! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| The Evil Eye was on them; that is true. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Day of disaster! Most unlucky day! | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Why did I leave my ploughing and my reaping | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| To plough and reap this Sodom and Gomorrah? | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| Oh, I could drown myself for sheer vexation! | 11 | ·····/··˘/˘ |
| GLOYD. | 1 | · |
| He's going for his cattle. He won't find them. | 10 | ·/··/˘···· |
| By this time they have drifted out to sea. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| They will not break his fences any more, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Though they may break his heart. And what care I? | 10 | ·········· |
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.