OH! i loved the END! how it wasn't the witches the Devil would take, it was those who believed it was the witches! BRILLIANT! your poetry is really cool, Stephen! hmmmm keep writing, yeah!
Peace and chocolate,
~*Elenwyn*~

Nice poem. For some reason it was very touching to me, especially the last line. I like your rhyming scheme and your use of stanzas. Always good to look at a situation from another angle.

I have a strange fascination with the Salem witch trials, and I think this is a really neat way of writing about them. The title is especially appropriate. Very nice.

Man...I love this! I, too, have always had a weird interest in the Salem witch trials. Did you ever read the poem "Half Hanged Mary"? You can find it online, and I think you'd really get a kick out of it. They hung her, but she didn't die, so they cut her down and she ran around scaring people for the rest of her life. She was quite mad...true story!! I loved this in the same way I did her story. The only nit I had revolved around the use of the word "Him" in the first stanza. Technically speaking, the only "Him" that gets a capital letter is God or Jesus Christ. Satan is usually lowercase simply because he does not deserve the honor. Minor, minor thing there. Great piece!

Link to the poem---> http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/01/277707.shtml

Steve Doyle replies: "Thanks for the link to that poem, I'll definitely have to check it out."

BRAVO! Brilliantly spoken! Unlike most of you here, I don't have an interest in the Salem Witch Trials. Being a Witch (Paladin, actually), I prefer not look back on such an unjust era in History. All was true in that poem, aside from the devil existing. In reality, the devil, nor hell exist. Such ideologies were used by the Christian Church into blackmailing the people into fulfilling the needs of the clergymen. When the Pagans began enlightening the people to think for themselves (aside from Thomas Hobbes, all of the Enlightenment Thinkers were Pagans, as was Leonardo Di Vinci), the Church began accusing Pagans of "devil worship" and that they were sent by "the devil" in order to brainwash the people. (I really don't understand how people can be brainwashed TWICE.) To end, EXCELLENT poem! -Lotus Bael-

Steve Doyle replies: "Thanks for your comments, I glad you liked the poem, but please remember that "in reality" the people of the middle ages did believe that God & Satan and Heaven & Hell *did exist*. Those concepts were very real to those people at that time."

o.0 Wow. This has got to be one of the better poems I've read on Elfwood, for a variety of reasons. The rhyming was wonderful: it all worked without being forced. The poem also had a wonderful meter, something I've never been able to get.
I also like the inclusion of the Devil's thoughts. They were a wonderful, wonderful touch, especially at the end.
I liked the capitalization of Him for the Devil! It's poetic liscence, is what that is.
This is a great poem, I really enjoyed it!

I'm normally not a fan of rhyming poetry (for a number of reasons). However, I think for the style you seem to be going for, it works out well. As for the meter, it's rather good, but there are a few lines that are metrically incorrect (they contain a few extra beats) and it throws the poem off in places. Meter is a very difficult concept, though, and I am impressed that you have metrical consistency for the most part.

Another thing I am left wanting is some visual imagery. What kind of day was it? What time of day? What did the scaffold look like? What kinds of expressions did the people in the crowd have?

Even though there is a slight lack in visual imagery, you do still do a good job of conveying a pointed tone throughout the poem.

Now THIS is a poem. Amanda added my poem to the tour but mine was just for fun. You do a great job of giving feling through words. And being based on a historical moment only adds to the effectiveness.

Nice story. Very moving, and honest.

the truth is revealed......
I clap to you...loudly