We will use this poem to understand some themes that are relevant to our study of the Holocaust: personal responsibility, the role of by-standers, prejudice. Please read Stanza 1 below and review the vocabulary items and questions below.
The links to the right lead to Stanzas 2-4. Please read these in turn and answer the questions.
1.
Into our town the Hangman came,
Smelling of gold and blood and flame.
And he paced our bricks with a diffident air,
And built his frame in the courthouse square.
The scaffold stood by the courthouse side,
Only as wide as the door was wide;
A frame as tall, or little more,
Than the capping sill of the courthouse door.
And we wondered, whenever we had the time,
Who the criminal, what the crime
That the Hangman judged with the yellow twist
of knotted hemp in his busy fist.
And innocent though we were, with dread,
We passed those eyes of buckshot lead --
Till one cried: "Hangman, who is he
For whom you raised the gallows-tree?"
Then a twinkle grew in the buckshot eye,
And he gave us a riddle instead of reply:
"He who serves me best," said he,
"Shall earn the rope of the gallows-tree."
And he stepped down, and laid his hand
On a man who came from another land.
And we breathed again, for another's grief
At the Hangman's hand was our relief
And the gallows-frame on the courthouse lawn
By tomorrow's sun would be struck and gone.
So we gave him way, and no one spoke,
Out of respect for his Hangman's cloak.
Vocab:
Diffident: not bold; shy or unsure
Scaffold, gallows: a structure built from wood to hold a rope used for hanging; usually once someone has been found guilty of a crime where the sentence is death.
Hemp: a natural fiber, used to make rope
Stanza 1 Review Questions
- What did the Hangman build?
- What is the significance of a courthouse in this poem?
- What are the townspeople dreading?
- The author describes the Hangman’s eyes as “buckshot lead”. What color is that? What is buckshot? Does this imply anything about the Hangman’s purpose or intent?
- Who does the Hangman say the structure is for?
- Who did the Hangman hang first?
- What do the townspeople do and feel about this?
Please send me an email with your answers to the Stanza 1 Review Questions
