The Hangman (poem)
Encyclopedia
"The Hangman" is a poem for young adults by Maurice Ogden written in 1951. Its plot concerns a hangman who arrives at a town and executes the citizens one by one. As each citizen is executed, the others are afraid to object out of fear that they will be next. Finally there is nobody remaining in the town except the Hangman and the narrator of the poem. The narrator is then executed by the hangman as there is no one left who will defend him.
The poem contains four-line stanza
s with the rhyming pattern AABB.
The poem is usually cited as an indictment of those who stand idly by while others commit grave evil or injustice, such as The Holocaust
. It has often been interpreted as an attack on McCarthyism
, a distinct possibility since the first use of the term "McCarthyism" came on March 29, 1950, in a political cartoon by Herblock
of the Washington Post.
. Herschel Bernardi
narrated. The film was a co-winner of the Silver Sail award at the Locarno International Film Festival
in 1964.
The poem contains four-line stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
s with the rhyming pattern AABB.
The poem is usually cited as an indictment of those who stand idly by while others commit grave evil or injustice, such as The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
. It has often been interpreted as an attack on McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
, a distinct possibility since the first use of the term "McCarthyism" came on March 29, 1950, in a political cartoon by Herblock
Herblock
Herbert Lawrence Block, commonly known as Herblock , was an American editorial cartoonist and author best known for his commentary on national domestic and foreign policy from a liberal perspective.-Career:...
of the Washington Post.
Animated film
In 1964 an animated 11-minute film was made by Les Goldman and Paul JulianPaul Julian
Paul Julian was an American artist and designer most noted for his work as a background artist for Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes cartoon shorts. He worked primarily for director Friz Freleng's Sylvester and Tweety Bird shorts...
. Herschel Bernardi
Herschel Bernardi
Herschel Bernardi was an American film, Broadway, and television actor....
narrated. The film was a co-winner of the Silver Sail award at the Locarno International Film Festival
Locarno International Film Festival
The Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...
in 1964.