Act III: Scene I. — Giles Corey's Kitchen. Morning. Corey and Martha Sitting at the Breakfast-Table
COREY (rising).Well, now I've told you all I saw and heardOf Bridget Bishop; and I must be gone.
MARTHA.Don't go into the village, Giles, to-day.Last night you came back tired and out of humor.
COREY.Say, angry; say, right angry. I was neverIn a more devilish temper in my life.All things went wrong with me.
MARTHA.You were much vexed;So don't go to the village.
COREY (going).No, I won't.I won't go near it. We are going to mowThe Ipswich meadows for the aftermath,The crop of sedge and rowens.
MARTHA.Stay a moment,I want to tell you what I dreamed last night.Do you believe in dreams?
COREY.Why, yes and no.When they come true, then I believe in themWhen they come false, I don't believe in them.But let me hear. What did you dream about?
MARTHA.I dreamed that you and I were both in prison;That we had fetters on our hands and feet;That we were taken before the Magistrates,And tried for Witchcraft, and condemned to death!I wished to pray; they would not let me pray;You tried to comfort me, and they forbade it.But the most dreadful thing in all my dreamWas that they made you testify against me!And then there came a kind of mist between us;I could not see you; and I woke in terror.I never was more thankful in my lifeThan when I found you sleeping at my side!
COREY (with tenderness).It was our talk last night that made you dream.I'm sorry for it. I'll control myselfAnother time, and keep my temper down!I do not like such dreams.--Remember, Martha,I'm going to mow the Ipswich River meadows;If Gardner comes, you'll tell him where to find me.
MARTHA.So this delusion grows from bad to worseFirst, a forsaken and forlorn old woman,Ragged and wretched, and without a friend;Then something higher. Now it's Bridget Bishop;God only knows whose turn it will be next!The Magistrates are blind, the people mad!If they would only seize the Afflicted Children,And put them in the Workhouse, where they should be,There'd be an end of all this wickedness.
Words in this poem
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- testify v. i.
- To make a solemn declaration, verbal or written, to establish some fact; to give testimony for the purpose of communicating to others a knowledge of something not known to them. [OF. testifier, L. testificari; testis a witness + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy, and cf. Attest, Contest, Detest, Protest, Testament.]
- thankful a.
- Obtaining or deserving thanks; thankworthy. [AS. Þancfull.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- workhouse n.
- A house where any manufacture is carried on; a workshop. [AS. weorch.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act III: Scene I. — Giles Corey's Kitchen. Morning. Corey and Martha Sitting at the Breakfast-Table 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 III: Scene I. — Giles Corey's Kitchen. Morning. Corey and Martha Sitting at the Breakfast-Table, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/act-iii-scene-i-giles-corey-s-kitchen-morning-corey-and-mart.html, id L19240.
Form and metre
Act III: Scene I. — Giles Corey's Kitchen. Morning. Corey and Martha Sitting at the Breakfast-Table is 57 lines in 10 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.
- 7 --AA- corey · no · themA · themA · about
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 (rising). | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Well, now I've told you all I saw and heard | 10 | ·········· |
| Of Bridget Bishop; and I must be gone. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| MARTHA. | 2 | /˘ |
| Don't go into the village, Giles, to-day. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Last night you came back tired and out of humor. | 11 | ·····/···/˘ |
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| Say, angry; say, right angry. I was never | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| In a more devilish temper in my life. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| All things went wrong with me. | 6 | ······ |
| MARTHA. | 2 | /˘ |
| You were much vexed; | 4 | ···· |
| So don't go to the village. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| COREY (going). | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| No, I won't. | 3 | ··· |
| I won't go near it. We are going to mow | 10 | ·······/·· |
| The Ipswich meadows for the aftermath, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| The crop of sedge and rowens. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| MARTHA. | 2 | /˘ |
| Stay a moment, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| I want to tell you what I dreamed last night. | 10 | ·········· |
| Do you believe in dreams? | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| COREY. | 2 | /˘ |
| Why, yes and no. | 4 | ···· |
| When they come true, then I believe in them | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| When they come false, I don't believe in them. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| But let me hear. What did you dream about? | 10 | ·········· |
| MARTHA. | 2 | /˘ |
| I dreamed that you and I were both in prison; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| That we had fetters on our hands and feet; | 10 | ···/˘·/··· |
| That we were taken before the Magistrates, | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| And tried for Witchcraft, and condemned to death! | 10 | ···/··˘/·· |
| I wished to pray; they would not let me pray; | 10 | ·········· |
| You tried to comfort me, and they forbade it. | 11 | ···/˘···˘/· |
| But the most dreadful thing in all my dream | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Was that they made you testify against me! | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| And then there came a kind of mist between us; | 11 | ··········· |
| I could not see you; and I woke in terror. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I never was more thankful in my life | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Than when I found you sleeping at my side! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| COREY (with tenderness). | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| It was our talk last night that made you dream. | 10 | ··/······· |
| I'm sorry for it. I'll control myself | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·/ |
| Another time, and keep my temper down! | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| I do not like such dreams.--Remember, Martha, | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| I'm going to mow the Ipswich River meadows; | 11 | ·/·····/˘/· |
| If Gardner comes, you'll tell him where to find me. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| MARTHA. | 2 | /˘ |
| So this delusion grows from bad to worse | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| First, a forsaken and forlorn old woman, | 11 | ··˘/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Ragged and wretched, and without a friend; | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Then something higher. Now it's Bridget Bishop; | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| God only knows whose turn it will be next! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The Magistrates are blind, the people mad! | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| If they would only seize the Afflicted Children, | 12 | ···/˘··˘/˘/˘ |
| And put them in the Workhouse, where they should be, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| There'd be an end of all this wickedness. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
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