Across the gurgling stream the red bridge led
To village by a dark and fuscous road;
That curled around a mound with burning bed
And fiery stake which stood as fiendish goad.
The grove around the gruesome circled way
Was canopied to shade the scene below
In dingy green, to bathe the beastly fray
Of righteous railing men in nauseous afterglow.
The women who had screamed their purity
And prayed for blessed death and quick release,
Whose names lie mostly in obscurity:
Their innocence has honored them with peace.
It is the judging men around the glade
Whose souls now dance in fires devil-made.
Author notes
Form: Sonnet
Background by trekkergirl
A contest entry
- Formed poetry contest by Luciferschild.
650 points, ended March 1, 27 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 25 of 25
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Ah, so you pen sonnets as well as your free verse, Lita. Very nice. And you've taught me a new word, too - "fuscous". I shall have to remember it and use it in a future penning. You do dark quite well, Scribe. 
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IWouldn't it be nice, if we could pick and choose our history? This time has caused me a lot of contemplative pain. Not the least of whitch, we cannot know what really happened. It is horrid, frightening, embarrassing to be the same species. Line 8 spell check righteous. I am hopeful the aftermath did not carry the frenzy of the crowd; but much horror and recriminations. I also suspect many men were brow beaten and outmaneuvered by angry wives to dispatch women who were too adventurous and available. I used to know the data on Salem, but I haven't looked in quite a while, but I think 13 or 19 people of both sexes were hanged. No one was burned in the colonies. At least 50,000 were killed, often by burning, on the continent of Europe. Some estimates are much higher. It may have been a way to deal with mental illness, homelessness and power struggles. I hope it is all well behind us now.
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i usually dont like sonnets but this was a proverbial homerun!!
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Thanks so much for the HM. I'm glad you enjoyed the poem.
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Wow
What an amazing write. The picture is so graphic and haunting. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you so much! I appreciate you stopping by and reading; your comments are always appreciated!
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Oh wow! I wish this poem had been in my contest.
This was amazing. This was packed with a punch and i loved it!
Man i so wished this wasn't overlooked.
This was powerfully worded.Wow you did a wonderful job with this .eerie chills . thanks for the read!
-Mandi
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I'm so glad you liked it -- the whole point of the contests is to be inspired, and you did that very well for me. So thanks, both for the contest (even if I forgot to actually enter
) and for your very kind remarks! Lita
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Powerful write here, felt like I was getting punched with
words (in a poetic sense and a good sense.)
Loved the picture. Nice write here I actually felt like I was reading the beginning of a novel.
How are you auntie?
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I'm glad the poem affected you -- it's not a pleasant subject, but it was fun to try to write a sonnet! So many stories, so little time! I'm doing well, thanks! Just trying to catch up reading my favs and writing a little, too!
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Powerfully done!
This is a heck of a piece that is brimming in and burnt in the fires of suspicion and judgment from on-low...the low-ness of the mess than men do. What of the innocent snuffed out by the flames and whose souls were devoured by the ravaging red heat? I'm amazed at the intensity of the images and its voice. What a ferocity here; of courage to state what you state thereby becoming the voice for:
"The women who had screamed their purity
And prayed for blessed death and quick release,
Whose names lie mostly in obscurity:
Their innocence has honored them with peace."
Bravo. This is a powerful write (here).
AsIThink...
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Thanks for your very thoughtful comments about "Salem Green"; I've been trying to write some work in forms like sonnets, and continuing writing free verse when it seems appropriate. And then there are the "stories" that have been "resting" -- I need to get back to them, too! Your support is always so helpful, my brother!
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beautiful sonnet about witches. every time i read stories, poems or anything about witch-hunt, i get goosebumps. your poem did to me. well done and thanks for sharing.
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Goosebumps, hm? I guess that's one of the best responses possible to a poem of this sort!
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This takes me back to my old english days. I love this write. It so tragic and full of terror, but so smooth with the way the imagery flows. I really enjoyed this write. Thank you for penning this.
~*Cristy*~
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Thanks so much for your kind words -- I had a good time trying to make this sound like "old english"!
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Well done. There is a sense of gothic terror in this poem. The imagery seemed to be that of the older versions of eastern European fairy tales.
Great job.
Mike
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Thanks, Mike, I appreciae your comments, and that is exactly the "tone" I was going for!
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Amazing
This is one of the best poems I have read. The message you are sending is so true. All the innocent people that were burned at the stake but have people really learned that much since then. We still do these things, maybe not in the same way..but still
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Thank you so much! There still are many "innocents" who are dying because of some form of religious hatred -- I worry that we may never learn!
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Superb Plus +
I quite agree with the essence of this write. Women accused of witchcraft; and men accused of being gay were both burned at the stake. Men gagged and bound; tossed on top of the bundles of faggots (sticks) at the feet of so called witches. This is why gay men in this country are called faggots. There have been periods in the history of many countries where religious intolerance of any one who appeared to be different from the majority were persecuted often with approval not only of religious authorities, but also politicians of that day and age. Great imagery!!! Hopefully the "burning times" shall not return. After all, as it was said in an old song from the musical "South Pacific": "Hate has to be carefully taught". -
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I so agree-- we humans always seem to find a reason to hate and fear: different races, different religions, different sexual orientations -- and god help you if you are two of the above! One of my first little experiences of this came when my partner and I went to eat in a famous Chinese restaurant in New York, which was heavily patronized by people of Chinese descent. The hostess seated us at one of those large ten-people tables for a family style meal. And nobody, but NOBODY, would sit at our table, despite the hostess leading several people our direction. We were the only caucasions in the place. I suddenly had an epiphany, if you know what I mean! So every chance we get, we need to speak out. Thank you for reminding me, my brother.
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You are quite correct. You are very welcome.
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great job on the sonnet structure; it's pretty hard to do, and you've done it qutie well. The story was great and the picture was beautiful, and the background was lovely. Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you so much for the very kind remarks! I'm just learning how to do different forms. I appreciate the comments.
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