The Devil's Bridge
GUIDE.This bridge is called the Devil's Bridge.With a single arch, from ridge to ridge,It leaps across the terrible chasmYawning beneath us, black and deep,As if, in some convulsive spasm,The summits of the hills had cracked,And made a road for the cataractThat raves and rages down the steep!
LUCIFER, under the bridge.Ha! ha!
GUIDE.Never any bridge but thisCould stand across the wild abyss;All the rest, of wood or stone,By the Devil's hand were overthrown.He toppled crags from the precipice,And whatsoe'er was built by dayIn the night was swept away;None could stand but this alone.
LUCIFER, under the bridge.Ha! ha!
GUIDE.I showed you in the valley a bowlderMarked with the imprint of his shoulder;As he was bearing it up this way,A peasant, passing, cried, "Herr Je!And the Devil dropped it in his fright,And vanished suddenly out of sight!
LUCIFER, under the bridge.Ha! ha!
GUIDE.Abbot Giraldus of Einsiedel,For pilgrims on their way to Rome,Built this at last, with a single arch,Under which, on its endless march,Runs the river, white with foam,Like a thread through the eye of a needle.And the Devil promised to let it stand,Under compact and conditionThat the first living thing which crossedShould be surrendered into his hand,And be beyond redemption lost.
LUCIFER, under the bridge.Ha! ha! perdition!
GUIDE.At length, the bridge being all completed,The Abbot, standing at its head,Threw across it a loaf of bread,Which a hungry dog sprang after;And the rocks re-echoed with the peals of laughter,To see the Devil thus defeated!
LUCIFER, under the bridge.Ha! ha! defeated!For journeys and for crimes like thisI let the bridge stand o'er the abyss!
This is the highest point. Two ways the riversLeap down to different seas, and as they rollGrow deep and still, and their majestic presenceBecomes a benefaction to the townsThey visit, wandering silently among them,Like patriarchs old among their shining tents.
ELSIE.How bleak and bare it is! Nothing but mossesGrow on these rocks.
Yet are they not forgotten;Beneficent Nature sends the mists to feed them.
ELSIE.See yonder little cloud, that, borne aloftSo tenderly by the wind, floats fast awayOver the snowy peaks! It seems to meThe body of St. Catherine, borne by angels!
Thou art St. Catherine, and invisible angelsBear thee across these chasms and precipices,Lest thou shouldst dash thy feet against a stone!
ELSIE.Would I were borne unto my grave, as she was,Upon angelic shoulders! Even nowI seem uplifted by them, light as air!What sound is that?
The tumbling avalanches!
ELSIE.How awful, yet how beautiful!
These areThe voices of the mountains! Thus they opeTheir snowy lips, and speak unto each other,In the primeval language, lost to man.
ELSIE.What land is this that spreads itself beneath us?
Italy! Italy!
ELSIE.Land of the Madonna!How beautiful it is! It seems a gardenOf Paradise!
Nay, of GethsemaneTo thee and me, of passion and of prayer!Yet once of Paradise. Long years agoI wandered as a youth among its bowers,And never from my heart has faded quiteIts memory, that, like a summer sunset,Encircles with a ring of purple lightAll the horizon of my youth.
GUIDE.O friends!The days are short, the way before us long:We must not linger, if we think to reachThe inn at Belinzona before vespers!
Words in this poem
- cracked a.
- Coarsely ground or broken; as, cracked wheat.
- precipice n.
- A sudden or headlong fall. Fuller. [F. précipice, L. praecipitium, fr. praeceps, - cipitis, headlong; prae before + caput, capitis, the head. See Pre-, and Chief.]
- bowlder n.
- A large stone, worn smooth or rounded by the action of water; a large pebble. [Cf. Sw. bullra to roar, rattle, Dan. buldre, dial. Sw. bullersteen larger kind of pebbles; perh. akin to E. bellow.]
- herr n.
- A title of respect given to gentlemen in Germany, equivalent to the English Mister.
- perdition n.
- Entire loss; utter destruction; ruin; esp., the utter loss of the soul, or of final happiness in a future state; future misery or eternal death. [F., fr. L. perditio, fr. perdere, perditum, to ruin, to lose; per (cf. Skr. para away) + -dere (only in comp.) to put; akin to Gr. do. See Do.]
- benefaction n.
- The act of conferring a benefit. Johnson. [L. benefactio, fr. benefacere to do good to one; bene well + facere to do. See Benefit.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- madonna n.
- My lady; -- a term of address in Italian formerly used as the equivalent of Madame, but for which Signora is now substituted. [It. madonna my lady. See Dame, Donna, and cf. Madame, Monkey.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Devil's Bridge 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, The Devil's Bridge, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/the-devil-s-bridge.html, id L19211.
Form and metre
The Devil's Bridge is 107 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.
- 1 -AABCB--C guide · bridgeA · ridgeA · chasmB · deepC · spasmB · cracked · cataract · steepC
- 3 -AABBACCB guide · thisA · abyssA · stoneB · overthrownB · precipiceA · dayC · awayC · aloneB
- 5 -AA--BB guide · bowlderA · shoulderA · way · je · frightB · sightB
- 7 -ABCCBAD-EDE guide · einsiedelA · romeB · archC · marchC · foamB · needleA · standD · condition · crossedE · handD · lostE
- 9 AABBCCA guideA · completedA · headB · breadB · afterC · laughterC · defeatedA
- 10 --AA bridge · defeated · thisA · abyssA
- 23 ----A-A- gethsemane · prayer · ago · bowers · quiteA · sunset · lightA · youth
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GUIDE. | 1 | · |
| This bridge is called the Devil's Bridge. | 9 | ····˘·/˘· |
| With a single arch, from ridge to ridge, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| It leaps across the terrible chasm | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘/˘ |
| Yawning beneath us, black and deep, | 8 | /˘······ |
| As if, in some convulsive spasm, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| The summits of the hills had cracked, | 9 | ·/˘·····˘ |
| And made a road for the cataract | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| That raves and rages down the steep! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| LUCIFER, under the bridge. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Ha! ha! | 2 | ·· |
| GUIDE. | 1 | · |
| Never any bridge but this | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Could stand across the wild abyss; | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| All the rest, of wood or stone, | 7 | ······· |
| By the Devil's hand were overthrown. | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| He toppled crags from the precipice, | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘˘ |
| And whatsoe'er was built by day | 7 | ······· |
| In the night was swept away; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| None could stand but this alone. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| LUCIFER, under the bridge. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Ha! ha! | 2 | ·· |
| GUIDE. | 1 | · |
| I showed you in the valley a bowlder | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Marked with the imprint of his shoulder; | 10 | ·˘··/˘··/˘ |
| As he was bearing it up this way, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| A peasant, passing, cried, "Herr Je! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And the Devil dropped it in his fright, | 10 | ··/˘·˘···· |
| And vanished suddenly out of sight! | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘˘··· |
| LUCIFER, under the bridge. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Ha! ha! | 2 | ·· |
| GUIDE. | 1 | · |
| Abbot Giraldus of Einsiedel, | 9 | /˘······· |
| For pilgrims on their way to Rome, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Built this at last, with a single arch, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Under which, on its endless march, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Runs the river, white with foam, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Like a thread through the eye of a needle. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And the Devil promised to let it stand, | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| Under compact and condition | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| That the first living thing which crossed | 9 | ···/˘···˘ |
| Should be surrendered into his hand, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| And be beyond redemption lost. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| LUCIFER, under the bridge. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Ha! ha! perdition! | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| GUIDE. | 1 | · |
| At length, the bridge being all completed, | 10 | ····/˘·˘/˘ |
| The Abbot, standing at its head, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Threw across it a loaf of bread, | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Which a hungry dog sprang after; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And the rocks re-echoed with the peals of laughter, | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| To see the Devil thus defeated! | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| LUCIFER, under the bridge. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Ha! ha! defeated! | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| For journeys and for crimes like this | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I let the bridge stand o'er the abyss! | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| This is the highest point. Two ways the rivers | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Leap down to different seas, and as they roll | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Grow deep and still, and their majestic presence | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| Becomes a benefaction to the towns | 10 | ˘/········ |
| They visit, wandering silently among them, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Like patriarchs old among their shining tents. | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| How bleak and bare it is! Nothing but mosses | 11 | ······/˘·/˘ |
| Grow on these rocks. | 4 | ···· |
| Yet are they not forgotten; | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Beneficent Nature sends the mists to feed them. | 12 | ·˘/˘/˘······ |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| See yonder little cloud, that, borne aloft | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| So tenderly by the wind, floats fast away | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Over the snowy peaks! It seems to me | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The body of St. Catherine, borne by angels! | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Thou art St. Catherine, and invisible angels | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Bear thee across these chasms and precipices, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘·/˘˘ |
| Lest thou shouldst dash thy feet against a stone! | 10 | ·········· |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| Would I were borne unto my grave, as she was, | 11 | ··········· |
| Upon angelic shoulders! Even now | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| I seem uplifted by them, light as air! | 10 | ··/˘˘····· |
| What sound is that? | 4 | ···· |
| The tumbling avalanches! | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·˘ |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| How awful, yet how beautiful! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| These are | 2 | ·· |
| The voices of the mountains! Thus they ope | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Their snowy lips, and speak unto each other, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| In the primeval language, lost to man. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| What land is this that spreads itself beneath us? | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| Italy! Italy! | 6 | /˘˘/˘˘ |
| ELSIE. | 2 | /˘ |
| Land of the Madonna! | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| How beautiful it is! It seems a garden | 11 | ·/˘˘·····/˘ |
| Of Paradise! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Nay, of Gethsemane | 5 | ····· |
| To thee and me, of passion and of prayer! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Yet once of Paradise. Long years ago | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| I wandered as a youth among its bowers, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| And never from my heart has faded quite | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Its memory, that, like a summer sunset, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘/· |
| Encircles with a ring of purple light | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| All the horizon of my youth. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| GUIDE. | 1 | · |
| O friends! | 2 | ·· |
| The days are short, the way before us long: | 10 | ·········· |
| We must not linger, if we think to reach | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The inn at Belinzona before vespers! | 11 | ·········/˘ |
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