Act IV: Scene III. — The Governor's Private Room. Papers upon the Table
ENDICOTT.There is a ship from England has come in,Bringing despatches and much news from home,His majesty was at the Abbey crowned;And when the coronation was completeThere passed a mighty tempest o'er the city,Portentous with great thunderings and lightnings.
BELLINGHAM.After his father's, if I well remember,There was an earthquake, that foreboded evil.
ENDICOTT.Ten of the Regicides have been put to death!The bodies of Cromwell, Ireton, and BradshawHave been dragged from their graves, and publiclyHanged in their shrouds at Tyburn.
BELLINGHAM.Horrible!
ENDICOTT.Thus the old tyranny revives again.Its arm is long enough to reach us here,As you will see. For, more insulting stillThan flaunting in our faces dead men's shrouds,Here is the King's Mandamus, taking from us,From this day forth, all power to punish Quakers.
BELLINGHAM.That takes from us all power; we are but puppets,And can no longer execute our laws.
ENDICOTT.His Majesty begins with pleasant words,"Trusty and well-beloved, we greet you well;"Then with a ruthless hand he strips from meAll that which makes me what I am; as ifFrom some old general in the field, grown grayIn service, scarred with many wounds,Just at the hour of victory, he should stripHis badge of office and his well-gained honors,And thrust him back into the ranks again.
Here, read it for yourself; you see his wordsAre pleasant words--considerate--not reproachful--Nothing could be more gentle--or more royal;But then the meaning underneath the words,Mark that. He says all people known as QuakersAmong us, now condemned to suffer deathOr any corporal punishment whatever,Who are imprisoned, or may be obnoxiousTo the like condemnation, shall be sentForthwith to England, to be dealt with thereIn such wise as shall be agreeableUnto the English law and their demerits.Is it not so?
BELLINGHAM (returning the paper).Ay, so the paper says.
ENDICOTT.It means we shall no longer rule the Province;It means farewell to law and liberty,Authority, respect for Magistrates,The peace and welfare of the Commonwealth.If all the knaves upon this continentCan make appeal to England, and so thwartThe ends of truth and justice by delay,Our power is gone forever. We are nothingBut ciphers, valueless save when we followSome unit; and our unit is the King!'T is he that gives us value.
BELLINGHAM.I confessSuch seems to be the meaning of this paper,But being the King's Mandamus, signed and sealed,We must obey, or we are in rebellion.
ENDICOTT.I tell you, Richard Bellingham,--I tell you,That this is the beginning of a struggleOf which no mortal can foresee the end.I shall not live to fight the battle for you,I am a man disgraced in every way;This order takes from me my self-respectAnd the respect of others. 'T is my doom,Yes, my death-warrant, but must be obeyed!Take it, and see that it is executedSo far as this, that all be set at large;But see that none of them be sent to EnglandTo bear false witness, and to spread reportsThat might be prejudicial to ourselves.
There's a dull pain keeps knocking at my heart,Dolefully saying, "Set thy house in order,For thou shalt surely die, and shalt not live!For me the shadow on the dial-plateGoeth not back, but on into the dark!
Words in this poem
- coronation n.
- The act or solemnity of crowning a sovereign; the act of investing a prince with the insignia of royalty, on his succeeding to the sovereignty. [See Coronate.]
- portentous a.
- Of the nature of a portent; containing portents; foreschadowing, esp. foreschadowing ill; ominous. [L. portentosus.]
- mandamus n.
- A writ issued by a superior court and directed to some inferior tribunal, or to some corporation or person exercising authority, commanding the performance of some specified duty. [L., we command, fr. mandare to command.]
- ruthless a.
- Having no ruth; cruel; pitiless.
- obnoxious a.
- Subject; liable; exposed; answerable; amenable; -- with to. [L. obnoxius; ob (see Ob-) + noxius hurtful. See Noxious.]
- 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,]
- forthwith adv.
- Immediately; without delay; directly.
- commonwealth n.
- A state; a body politic consisting of a certain number of men, united, by compact or tacit agreement, under one form of government and system of laws. [Common + wealth well-being.]
- continent a.
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
- valueless a.
- Being of no value; having no worth.
- foresee v. i.
- To have or exercise foresight.
- prejudicial a.
- Biased, possessed, or blinded by prejudices; as, to look with a prejudicial eye. Holyday. [L. praejudicialis belonging to a preceding judgment: cf. F. préjudiciel.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act IV: Scene III. — The Governor's Private Room. Papers upon the 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 IV: Scene III. — The Governor's Private Room. Papers upon the Table, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/act-iv-scene-iii-the-governor-s-private-room-papers-upon-the.html, id L19228.
Form and metre
Act IV: Scene III. — The Governor's Private Room. Papers upon the Table is 88 lines in 13 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.
- 8 A--A--------- wordsA · reproachful · royal · wordsA · quakers · death · whatever · obnoxious · sent · there · agreeable · demerits · so
- 10 --------A-A- endicott · province · liberty · magistrates · commonwealth · continent · thwart · delay · nothingA · follow · kingA · value
- 12 -A--A---BB---- endicott · youA · struggle · end · youA · way · respect · doom · obeyedB · executedB · large · england · reports · ourselves
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ENDICOTT. | 3 | /˘· |
| There is a ship from England has come in, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Bringing despatches and much news from home, | 10 | /˘········ |
| His majesty was at the Abbey crowned; | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| And when the coronation was complete | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| There passed a mighty tempest o'er the city, | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Portentous with great thunderings and lightnings. | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘˘·/˘ |
| BELLINGHAM. | 3 | /˘· |
| After his father's, if I well remember, | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| There was an earthquake, that foreboded evil. | 11 | ···/··˘/˘/˘ |
| ENDICOTT. | 3 | /˘· |
| Ten of the Regicides have been put to death! | 11 | ··········· |
| The bodies of Cromwell, Ireton, and Bradshaw | 11 | ·/˘·/˘/˘·/· |
| Have been dragged from their graves, and publicly | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Hanged in their shrouds at Tyburn. | 7 | ······· |
| BELLINGHAM. | 3 | /˘· |
| Horrible! | 3 | /˘˘ |
| ENDICOTT. | 3 | /˘· |
| Thus the old tyranny revives again. | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/˘/ |
| Its arm is long enough to reach us here, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| As you will see. For, more insulting still | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Than flaunting in our faces dead men's shrouds, | 10 | ·/˘·//˘··· |
| Here is the King's Mandamus, taking from us, | 11 | ····˘/˘/˘·· |
| From this day forth, all power to punish Quakers. | 11 | ·····/·/˘/˘ |
| BELLINGHAM. | 3 | /˘· |
| That takes from us all power; we are but puppets, | 11 | ·····/···/˘ |
| And can no longer execute our laws. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·/· |
| ENDICOTT. | 3 | /˘· |
| His Majesty begins with pleasant words, | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/·/˘· |
| "Trusty and well-beloved, we greet you well;" | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Then with a ruthless hand he strips from me | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| All that which makes me what I am; as if | 10 | ·········· |
| From some old general in the field, grown gray | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In service, scarred with many wounds, | 9 | ·/˘·˘·/˘· |
| Just at the hour of victory, he should strip | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| His badge of office and his well-gained honors, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| And thrust him back into the ranks again. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Here, read it for yourself; you see his words | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Are pleasant words--considerate--not reproachful-- | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Nothing could be more gentle--or more royal; | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
| But then the meaning underneath the words, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Mark that. He says all people known as Quakers | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Among us, now condemned to suffer death | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Or any corporal punishment whatever, | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| Who are imprisoned, or may be obnoxious | 11 | ··˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| To the like condemnation, shall be sent | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Forthwith to England, to be dealt with there | 10 | //·/˘····· |
| In such wise as shall be agreeable | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Unto the English law and their demerits. | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Is it not so? | 4 | ···· |
| BELLINGHAM (returning the paper). | 9 | /˘·˘/˘·/˘ |
| Ay, so the paper says. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| ENDICOTT. | 3 | /˘· |
| It means we shall no longer rule the Province; | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| It means farewell to law and liberty, | 10 | ···/···/˘˘ |
| Authority, respect for Magistrates, | 10 | ˘/˘˘˘/·/˘· |
| The peace and welfare of the Commonwealth. | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| If all the knaves upon this continent | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Can make appeal to England, and so thwart | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| The ends of truth and justice by delay, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Our power is gone forever. We are nothing | 11 | //··˘/˘··/˘ |
| But ciphers, valueless save when we follow | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘···/˘ |
| Some unit; and our unit is the King! | 10 | ·/˘·//˘··· |
| 'T is he that gives us value. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| BELLINGHAM. | 3 | /˘· |
| I confess | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Such seems to be the meaning of this paper, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| But being the King's Mandamus, signed and sealed, | 10 | ·/··˘/˘··· |
| We must obey, or we are in rebellion. | 11 | ··˘/····˘/˘ |
| ENDICOTT. | 3 | /˘· |
| I tell you, Richard Bellingham,--I tell you, | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| That this is the beginning of a struggle | 11 | ····˘/˘··/˘ |
| Of which no mortal can foresee the end. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| I shall not live to fight the battle for you, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| I am a man disgraced in every way; | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| This order takes from me my self-respect | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And the respect of others. 'T is my doom, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘···· |
| Yes, my death-warrant, but must be obeyed! | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Take it, and see that it is executed | 11 | ·······/˘·˘ |
| So far as this, that all be set at large; | 10 | ·········· |
| But see that none of them be sent to England | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| To bear false witness, and to spread reports | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| That might be prejudicial to ourselves. | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| There's a dull pain keeps knocking at my heart, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Dolefully saying, "Set thy house in order, | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| For thou shalt surely die, and shalt not live! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For me the shadow on the dial-plate | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Goeth not back, but on into the dark! | 9 | ········· |
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.