The Devil's Bridge
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.]
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 The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-devil-s-bridge.html, id L17938.
Form and metre
The Devil's Bridge is 51 lines in 10 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 bridgeA · ridgeA · chasmB · deepC · spasmB · cracked · cataract · steepC
- 3 AABBACCB thisA · abyssA · stoneB · overthrownB · precipiceA · dayC · awayC · aloneB
- 5 AA--BB bowlderA · shoulderA · way · je · frightB · sightB
- 7 ABCCBAD-EDE einsiedelA · romeB · archC · marchC · foamB · needleA · standD · condition · crossedE · handD · lostE
- 9 ABBCCA completedA · headB · breadB · afterC · laughterC · defeatedA
- 10 --AA bridge · defeated · thisA · abyssA
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ·· |
| 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 | ·· |
| 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 | ·· |
| 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 | ··˘/˘ |
| 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 | ·······˘/ |
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