Eighteen innocents hanged until dead,
one man crushed by stones instead,
by self righteousness was ignorance led
when fear and despair reigned in Salem.
One man crushed by stones instead,
for refusing to say he had lied.
Bravely, he requested more weight,
til he suffocated and died.
By self righteousness was ignorance led,
as oft ignorance blissfully follows.
Loved ones and friends sat idly watching,
as eighteen were brought to the gallows.
When fear and despair ruled in Salem,
through the land a travesty spread,
a disgusting black mark in our history -
eighteen innocents hanged until dead.
Author notes
Like most of my poems, I am continuing to work to make this one better. Constructive reviews, regardless of how severe will be greatly appreciated and returned.
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Comments
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I had heard of Salem for the witch trials in 1692 but actually knew very little about it. Your poem inspired me to look up some information which was very interesting. The world is a huge place that I know so little about so I like to do some exploration even if it is only through reading about places and people. I like the story you tell in this piece of work but I can't give you a critical opinion of it as I had to look the Lilibonelle form up. It appears to me to be the same as the Retourne form, though I'm sure there are more established poets who could enlighten you further
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The witch craft trials here weren't as bad as the Witch Hunts in Europe, and I wouldn't expect them to be very well known elsewhere in the world. I even suspect a lot of people here in the states either have never heard of them, or do not know what was entailed in them.
As for the forms; I looked them up, and I agree, the retourne is older being a classic French form. The Lillibonelle was invented by an American woman quite recently and appears to have been based on the retourne. The only difference that I can see is that a retourne is not required to rhyme, but a rhyme scheme is "encouraged" in a lillibonelle.
I read through this poem again real quick, and noticed that my rhyme scheme is inconsistant, so I'm going to reclassify it as a retourne. Thank you for your comment and helping me correct that! I honestly appreciate it.
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