Manahem. Nothing
Not even a cup of water?
Nothing.Why hast thou sent for me?
Dost thou rememberOne day when I, a schoolboy in the streetsOf the great city, met thee on my wayTo school, and thou didst say to me: HereafterThou shalt be king?
Yea, I remember it.
Thinking thou didst not know me, I replied:I am of humble birth; whereat thou, smiling,Didst smite me with thy hand, and saidst again:Thou shalt be king; and let the friendly blowsThat Manahem hath given thee on this dayRemind thee of the fickleness of fortune.
What more?
No more.
Yea, for I said to thee:It shall be well with thee if thou love justiceAnd clemency towards thy fellow-men.Hast thou done this, O King?
Go, ask my people.
And then, foreseeing all thy life, I added:But these thou wilt forget; and at the endOf life the Lord will punish thee.
The end!When will that come? For this I sent to thee.How long shall I still reign? Thou dost not answer!Speak! shall I reign ten years?
Thou shalt reign twenty,Nay, thirty years. I cannot name the end.
Thirty? I thank thee, good Essenian!This is my birthday, and a happier oneWas never mine. We hold a banquet here.See, yonder are Herodias and her daughter.
MANAHEM, aside.'T is said that devils sometimes take the shapeOf ministering angels, clothed with air.That they may be inhabitants of earth,And lead man to destruction. Such are these.
Knowest thou John the Baptist?
Yea, I know him;Who knows him not?
Know, then, this John the BaptistSaid that it was not lawful I should marryMy brother Philip's wife, and John the BaptistIs here in prison. In my father's timeMatthias Margaloth was put to deathFor tearing the golden eagle from its stationAbove the Temple Gate,--a slighter crimeThan John is guilty of. These things are warningsTo intermeddlers not to play with eagles,Living or dead. I think the EsseniansAre wiser, or more wary, are they not?
The Essenians do not marry.
Thou hast givenMy words a meaning foreign to my thought.
Let me go hence, O King!
Stay yet awhile,And see the daughter of Herodias dance.Cleopatra of Jerusalem, my mother,In her best days, was not more beautiful.
Oh, what was Miriam dancing with her timbrel,Compared to this one?
MANAHEM, aside.O thou Angel of Death,Dancing at funerals among the women,When men bear out the dead! The air is hotAnd stifles me! Oh for a breath of air!Bid me depart, O King!
Not yet. Come hither,Salome, thou enchantress! Ask of meWhate'er thou wilt; and even unto the halfOf all my kingdom, I will give it thee,As the Lord liveth!
DAUGHTER OF HERODIAS, kneeling.Give me here the headOf John the Baptist on this silver charger!
Not that, dear child! I dare not; for the peopleRegard John as a prophet.
Thou hast sworn it.
For mine oath's sake, then. Send unto the prison;Let him die quickly. Oh, accursed oath!
Bid me depart, O King!
Good Manahem,Give me thy hand. I love the Essenians.He's gone and hears me not! The guests are dumb,Awaiting the pale face, the silent witness.The lamps flare; and the curtains of the doorwaysWave to and fro as if a ghost were passing!Strengthen my heart, red wine of Ascalon!
Words in this poem 18
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- schoolboy n.
- A boy belonging to, or attending, a school.
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- whereat adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
- remind v. t.
- To put (one) in mind of something; to bring to the remembrance of; to bring to the notice or consideration of (a person).
- 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,]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- slighter n.
- One who slights.
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- timbrel n.
- A kind of drum, tabor, or tabret, in use from the highest antiquity. [Dim. of OE. timbre, OF. timbre; probably fr. L. typmanum, Gr. tabl a drum; cf. Per. tambal a drum. See Tympanum, and cf. 2d Timbre, Tymbal.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- enchantress n.
- A woman versed in magical arts; a sorceress; also, a woman who fascinates. [Cf. F. enchanteresse.]
- charger n.
- One who, or that which charges.
- flare v. i.
- To burn with an unsteady or waving flame; as, the candle flares. [Cf. Norw. flara to blaze, flame, adorn with tinsel, dial. Sw. flasa upp, and E. flash, or flacker.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Manahem. Nothing 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, Manahem. Nothing, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/manahem-nothing.html, id L17869.
Form and metre
Manahem. Nothing is 91 lines in 30 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 33 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
- 5 --A--A replied · smiling · againA · blows · day · fortuneA
- 17 A-AB--B---- baptistA · marry · baptistA · timeB · death · station · crimeB · warnings · eagles · essenians · not
- 21 A--A awhileA · dance · mother · beautifulA
- 24 -A-A- hither · meA · half · theeA · liveth
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. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Not even a cup of water? | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Nothing. | 2 | /˘ |
| Why hast thou sent for me? | 6 | ······ |
| Dost thou remember | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| One day when I, a schoolboy in the streets | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Of the great city, met thee on my way | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To school, and thou didst say to me: Hereafter | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Thou shalt be king? | 4 | ···· |
| Yea, I remember it. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Thinking thou didst not know me, I replied: | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| I am of humble birth; whereat thou, smiling, | 11 | ···/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Didst smite me with thy hand, and saidst again: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Thou shalt be king; and let the friendly blows | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That Manahem hath given thee on this day | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Remind thee of the fickleness of fortune. | 11 | ˘/···/˘˘·/˘ |
| What more? | 2 | ·· |
| No more. | 2 | ·· |
| Yea, for I said to thee: | 6 | ······ |
| It shall be well with thee if thou love justice | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And clemency towards thy fellow-men. | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Hast thou done this, O King? | 6 | ······ |
| Go, ask my people. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And then, foreseeing all thy life, I added: | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| But these thou wilt forget; and at the end | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Of life the Lord will punish thee. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The end! | 2 | ·· |
| When will that come? For this I sent to thee. | 10 | ·········· |
| How long shall I still reign? Thou dost not answer! | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Speak! shall I reign ten years? | 6 | ······ |
| Thou shalt reign twenty, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Nay, thirty years. I cannot name the end. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Thirty? I thank thee, good Essenian! | 9 | /˘······· |
| This is my birthday, and a happier one | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Was never mine. We hold a banquet here. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| See, yonder are Herodias and her daughter. | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| MANAHEM, aside. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| 'T is said that devils sometimes take the shape | 11 | ····/˘/···· |
| Of ministering angels, clothed with air. | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘·˘·· |
| That they may be inhabitants of earth, | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| And lead man to destruction. Such are these. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Knowest thou John the Baptist? | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Yea, I know him; | 4 | ···· |
| Who knows him not? | 4 | ···· |
| Know, then, this John the Baptist | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Said that it was not lawful I should marry | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| My brother Philip's wife, and John the Baptist | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| Is here in prison. In my father's time | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Matthias Margaloth was put to death | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| For tearing the golden eagle from its station | 12 | ·/˘·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Above the Temple Gate,--a slighter crime | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Than John is guilty of. These things are warnings | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| To intermeddlers not to play with eagles, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Living or dead. I think the Essenians | 10 | /˘········ |
| Are wiser, or more wary, are they not? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The Essenians do not marry. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Thou hast given | 4 | ··/˘ |
| My words a meaning foreign to my thought. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Let me go hence, O King! | 6 | ······ |
| Stay yet awhile, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| And see the daughter of Herodias dance. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Cleopatra of Jerusalem, my mother, | 11 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘·/˘ |
| In her best days, was not more beautiful. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Oh, what was Miriam dancing with her timbrel, | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Compared to this one? | 5 | ˘/··· |
| MANAHEM, aside. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| O thou Angel of Death, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Dancing at funerals among the women, | 11 | /˘·/˘˘···/˘ |
| When men bear out the dead! The air is hot | 10 | ·········· |
| And stifles me! Oh for a breath of air! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Bid me depart, O King! | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Not yet. Come hither, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Salome, thou enchantress! Ask of me | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Whate'er thou wilt; and even unto the half | 11 | ˘˘/···/···· |
| Of all my kingdom, I will give it thee, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As the Lord liveth! | 5 | ····· |
| DAUGHTER OF HERODIAS, kneeling. | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Give me here the head | 5 | ····· |
| Of John the Baptist on this silver charger! | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Not that, dear child! I dare not; for the people | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Regard John as a prophet. | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| Thou hast sworn it. | 4 | ···· |
| For mine oath's sake, then. Send unto the prison; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Let him die quickly. Oh, accursed oath! | 10 | ···/˘···˘· |
| Bid me depart, O King! | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Good Manahem, | 4 | ···· |
| Give me thy hand. I love the Essenians. | 10 | ·········· |
| He's gone and hears me not! The guests are dumb, | 10 | ·········· |
| Awaiting the pale face, the silent witness. | 11 | ˘/˘····/˘/˘ |
| The lamps flare; and the curtains of the doorways | 11 | ·····/˘··/· |
| Wave to and fro as if a ghost were passing! | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Strengthen my heart, red wine of Ascalon! | 10 | /˘········ |
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