The third he took -- we had all heard tell --
Was a usurer, and an infidel.
"What," said the Hangman "have you to do
With the gallows-bound, and he a Jew?"
And we cried out, "Is this one he
Who has served you well and faithfully?"
The Hangman smiled: "It's a clever scheme
to try the strength of the gallows-beam."
The fourth man's dark, accusing song
Had scratched our comfort hard and long;
"And what concern," he gave us back.
"Have you for the doomed -- the doomed and Black?"
The fifth. The sixth. And we cried again,
"Hangman, Hangman, is this the man?"
"It's a trick," he said. "that we hangmen know
For easing the trap when the trap springs slow."
And so we ceased, and asked no more,
As the Hangman tallied his bloody score.
And sun by sun, and night by night,
The gallows grew to monstrous height.
The wings of the scaffold opened wide
Till they covered the square from side to side;
And the monster cross-beam, looking down,
Cast its shadow across the town.
Vocab:
Usurer: money lender, in this case a derogatory term for a Jewish person who lends money at such a high rate that the person cannot ever pay it back, and is in debt forever
Infidel: non-believer, in this case someone with a different religion; i.e. Jewish rather than Christian
Stanza 3 Review Questions
- Who was the third person the Hangman executed?
- What do the townspeople ask the Hangman after the third execution?
- Who was the fourth executed?
- How do the townspeople react after the sixth execution? What do they do?
Please send me an email with your answers to the Stanza 3 Review Questions
