Act V: Scene IV. — A Field Near the Graveyard, Giles Corey Lying Dead,, with a Great Stone on His Breast. The Sheriff at His Head,, Richard Gardner at His Feet. A Crowd Behind. The Bell Tolling, Enter Hathorne and Mather
HATHORNE.This is the Potter's Field. Behold the fateOf those who deal in Witchcrafts, and, when questioned,Refuse to plead their guilt or innocence,And stubbornly drag death upon themselves.
MATHER.O sight most horrible! In a land like this,Spangled with Churches Evangelical,Inwrapped in our salvations, must we seekIn mouldering statute-books of English CourtsSome old forgotten Law, to do such deeds?Those who lie buried in the Potter's FieldWill rise again, as surely as ourselvesThat sleep in honored graves with epitaphs;And this poor man, whom we have made a victim,Hereafter will be counted as a martyr!
Words in this poem
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act V: Scene IV. — A Field Near the Graveyard, Giles Corey Lying Dead,, with a Great Stone on His Breast. The Sheriff at His Head,, Richard Gardner at His Feet. A Crowd Behind. The Bell Tolling, Enter Hathorne and Mather 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 V: Scene IV. — A Field Near the Graveyard, Giles Corey Lying Dead,, with a Great Stone on His Breast. The Sheriff at His Head,, Richard Gardner at His Feet. A Crowd Behind. The Bell Tolling, Enter Hathorne and Mather, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/act-v-scene-iv-a-field-near-the-graveyard-giles-corey-lying-.html, id L19249.
Form and metre
Act V: Scene IV. — A Field Near the Graveyard, Giles Corey Lying Dead,, with a Great Stone on His Breast. The Sheriff at His Head,, Richard Gardner at His Feet. A Crowd Behind. The Bell Tolling, Enter Hathorne and Mather is 16 lines in 2 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| HATHORNE. | 2 | /˘ |
| This is the Potter's Field. Behold the fate | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Of those who deal in Witchcrafts, and, when questioned, | 11 | ·····/···/˘ |
| Refuse to plead their guilt or innocence, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘˘ |
| And stubbornly drag death upon themselves. | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| MATHER. | 2 | /˘ |
| O sight most horrible! In a land like this, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Spangled with Churches Evangelical, | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Inwrapped in our salvations, must we seek | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| In mouldering statute-books of English Courts | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Some old forgotten Law, to do such deeds? | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Those who lie buried in the Potter's Field | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Will rise again, as surely as ourselves | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| That sleep in honored graves with epitaphs; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And this poor man, whom we have made a victim, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Hereafter will be counted as a martyr! | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘··/˘ |
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