Barabbas in Prison
BARABBAS, to his fellow-prisonersBarabbas is my name,Barabbas, the Son of Shame,Is the meaning, I suppose;I'm no better than the best,And whether worse than the restOf my fellow-men, who knows?
I was once, to say it in brief,A highwayman, a robber-chief,In the open light of day.So much I am free to confess;But all men, more or less,Are robbers in their way.
From my cavern in the crags,From my lair of leaves and flags,I could see, like ants, below,The camels with their loadOf merchandise, on the roadThat leadeth to Jericho.
And I struck them unaware,As an eagle from the airDrops down upon bird or beast;And I had my heart's desireOf the merchants of Sidon and Tyre,And Damascus and the East.
But it is not for that I fear;It is not for that I am hereIn these iron fetters bound;Sedition! that is the wordThat Pontius Pilate heard,And he liketh not the sound.
What think ye, would he careFor a Jew slain here or there,Or a plundered caravan?But Caesar!--ah, that is a crime,To the uttermost end of timeShall not be forgiven to man.
Therefore was Herod wrothWith Matthias Margaloth,And burned him for a show!Therefore his wrath did smiteJudas the Gaulonite,And his followers, as ye know.
For that cause and no more,Am I here, as I said before;For one unlucky night,Jucundus, the captain of horse,Was upon us with all his force,And I was caught in the flight,
I might have fled with the rest,But my dagger was in the breastOf a Roman equerry,As we rolled there in the street,They bound me, hands and feetAnd this is the end of me.
Who cares for death? Not I!A thousand times I would die,Rather than suffer wrong!Already those women of mineAre mixing the myrrh and the wine;I shall not be with you long.
Words in this poem
- highwayman n.
- One who robs on the public road; a highway robber.
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- unaware a.
- Not aware; not noticing; giving no heed; thoughtless; inattentive.
- tyre n.
- Attire. See 2d and 3d Tire.
- uttermost a.
- Extreme; utmost; being; in the farthest, greatest, or highest degree; as, the uttermost extent or end. [From Utter, a.; cf. Utmost, and Outermost.]
- 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,]
- wroth a.
- Full of wrath; angry; incensed; much exasperated; wrathful. [OE. wroth, wrap, AS. wraedh wroth, crooked, bad; akin to wriedhan to writhe, and to OS. wreedhangry, D. wreed cruel, OHG. reid twisted, Icel. reiedhr angry, Dan]
- equerry n.
- A large stable or lodge for horses. Johnson. [F. écurie stable, for older escurie, escuirie (confused somewhat with F. écuyer, OF. escuyer, squire), LL. scuria, OHG. skiura, sc, barn, shed, G. scheuer, from]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Barabbas in Prison 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, Barabbas in Prison, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/barabbas-in-prison.html.
Form and metre
Barabbas in Prison is 61 lines in 10 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 7 of its 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.
- 1 ABBACCA prisonersA · nameB · shameB · supposeA · bestC · restC · knowsA
- 2 AABCCB briefA · chiefA · dayB · confessC · lessC · wayB
- 3 AABCCB cragsA · flagsA · belowB · loadC · roadC · jerichoB
- 4 AAB--B unawareA · airA · beastB · desire · tyre · eastB
- 5 AABCCB fearA · hereA · boundB · wordC · heardC · soundB
- 6 AABCCB careA · thereA · caravanB · crimeC · timeC · manB
- 7 AABCCB wrothA · margalothA · showB · smiteC · gauloniteC · knowB
- 8 AABCCB moreA · beforeA · nightB · horseC · forceC · flightB
- 9 AA-BB- restA · breastA · equerry · streetB · feetB · me
- 10 AABCCB iA · dieA · wrongB · mineC · wineC · longB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BARABBAS, to his fellow-prisoners | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Barabbas is my name, | 6 | ······ |
| Barabbas, the Son of Shame, | 7 | ······· |
| Is the meaning, I suppose; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| I'm no better than the best, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And whether worse than the rest | 7 | ······· |
| Of my fellow-men, who knows? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I was once, to say it in brief, | 8 | ········ |
| A highwayman, a robber-chief, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| In the open light of day. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| So much I am free to confess; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But all men, more or less, | 6 | ······ |
| Are robbers in their way. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| From my cavern in the crags, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| From my lair of leaves and flags, | 7 | ······· |
| I could see, like ants, below, | 7 | ······· |
| The camels with their load | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of merchandise, on the road | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| That leadeth to Jericho. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| And I struck them unaware, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| As an eagle from the air | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Drops down upon bird or beast; | 7 | ······· |
| And I had my heart's desire | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Of the merchants of Sidon and Tyre, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| And Damascus and the East. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| But it is not for that I fear; | 8 | ········ |
| It is not for that I am here | 8 | ········ |
| In these iron fetters bound; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Sedition! that is the word | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| That Pontius Pilate heard, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And he liketh not the sound. | 7 | ······· |
| What think ye, would he care | 6 | ······ |
| For a Jew slain here or there, | 7 | ······· |
| Or a plundered caravan? | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| But Caesar!--ah, that is a crime, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To the uttermost end of time | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Shall not be forgiven to man. | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| Therefore was Herod wroth | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With Matthias Margaloth, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| And burned him for a show! | 6 | ······ |
| Therefore his wrath did smite | 6 | ······ |
| Judas the Gaulonite, | 6 | /˘···· |
| And his followers, as ye know. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| For that cause and no more, | 6 | ······ |
| Am I here, as I said before; | 8 | ········ |
| For one unlucky night, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Jucundus, the captain of horse, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Was upon us with all his force, | 8 | ········ |
| And I was caught in the flight, | 7 | ······· |
| I might have fled with the rest, | 7 | ······· |
| But my dagger was in the breast | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Of a Roman equerry, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| As we rolled there in the street, | 7 | ······· |
| They bound me, hands and feet | 6 | ······ |
| And this is the end of me. | 7 | ······· |
| Who cares for death? Not I! | 6 | ······ |
| A thousand times I would die, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Rather than suffer wrong! | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Already those women of mine | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Are mixing the myrrh and the wine; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I shall not be with you long. | 7 | ······· |
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.