#3 Sydney

The Martyr

By: Herman Mellville

Good Friday was the day

    Of the prodigy and crime,

When they killed him in his pity,

    When they killed him in his prime

Of clemency and calm—

         When with yearning he was filled

         To redeem the evil-willed,

And, though conqueror, be kind;

    But they killed him in his kindness,

    In their madness and their blindness,

And they killed him from behind.

 

              There is sobbing of the strong,

                   And a pall upon the land;

              But the People in their weeping

                                    Bare the iron hand:

              Beware the People weeping

                   When they bare the iron hand.

 

He lieth in his blood—

    The father in his face;

They have killed him, the Forgiver—

    The Avenger takes his place,

The Avenger wisely stern,

         Who in righteousness shall do

         What heavens call him to,

And the parricides remand;

    For they killed him in his kindness,

    In their madness and their blindness.

And his blood is on their hand.

 

                    There is sobbing of the strong,

                        And a pall upon the land;

                    But the People in their weeping

                                    Bare the iron hand:

                    Beware the People weeping

                        When they bare the iron hand.

Rooney, Kathleen. "The Martyr." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. Web. 25 Sept. 2014. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/244862>. 25 Sept. 2014. 

This is a pretty traditional elegy. Melville begins in lament- of a death. In "madness and blindness", they killed him. The first section laments his passing, and expresses grief and sorrow. Then, the passage shifts to praise and admiration for the idealized dead. Melville calls him "Father", "Forgiver", and "Avenger" in a revering and admiring sense. Finally, it shifts to consolation and solace. He calls the people "strong" despite their loss, even repeating this multiple times.

The following is a link to a video of this poem being read in a college class, so you can hear how it is supposed to sound and how an elegy is spoken: http://youtu.be/XmOlPkPLfUY