TITURA.
Giles Corey and Martha Corey are in prison
Down there in Salem Village. Both are witches.
She came to me and whispered, "Kill the children!"
Both signed the Book!
The Annotated Edition
TITURA. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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This brief, haunting poem is voiced by Tituba, the enslaved woman embroiled in the 1692 Salem witch trials, as she reflects on the accusations surrounding Giles and Martha Corey.
- Themes
- death, fear, identity
§01Quick summary
What this poem is about
This brief, haunting poem is voiced by Tituba, the enslaved woman embroiled in the 1692 Salem witch trials, as she reflects on the accusations surrounding Giles and Martha Corey. In just four lines, Longfellow encapsulates the hysteria and paranoia of that time — with whispers of accusations, mentions of demonic books, and the fate of condemned prisoners. It illustrates how fear and false testimony could obliterate innocent lives in a heartbeat.
§02Themes
Recurring themes
§03Line by line
Stanza by stanza, with notes
Giles Corey and Martha Corey are in prison / Down there in Salem Village. Both are witches.
Editor's note
Tituba begins with a stark and chilling certainty, declaring that the Coreys are already imprisoned and branded as witches. This directness reflects the nature of accusations in Salem, where guilt was presumed the instant a name was uttered. Longfellow shows no hesitation in Tituba's delivery; her words bear the heavy burden of a verdict already passed by the community's fear.
She came to me and whispered, "Kill the children!"
Editor's note
This is the main accusation: Martha Corey allegedly appeared to Tituba in a ghostly form and urged her to kill children. This type of "spectral evidence" — dreams and visions treated as legal proof — was accepted during the Salem trials and led to executions. The whisper feels both personal and ominous, and Longfellow employs it to illustrate how effortlessly a chilling tale could be spun from thin air.
Both signed the Book!
Editor's note
"The Book" refers to the Devil's book, which accusers claimed witches signed to pledge their souls to Satan. This final exclamation is short and powerful — it acts like a gavel striking down. The concise nature and the exclamation mark together reflect the mob's certainty during the witch trials: no evidence required, no chance for defense, just a damning statement.
§04Tone & mood
How this poem feels
The tone is urgent and declarative — Tituba speaks with the intense conviction of someone who believes every word she says, or at least needs others to buy into it. There’s something profoundly unsettling about the starkness of her certainty. Longfellow removes any ambiguity; the lines hit like punches. Beneath the urgency lies a chilling, shared fear — the kind that drives ordinary people to imprison and execute their neighbors.
§05Symbols & metaphors
Symbols & metaphors
- The Book
- The Devil's book was said to be signed in blood by accused witches. During the Salem trials, it was considered real evidence. Here, it symbolizes the whole system of false accusations—an object that exists only through testimony, yet has the power to end lives.
- The whisper
- Martha Corey's whispered command serves as spectral evidence — the unseen, unprovable visions that the Salem court took as truth. A whisper is private and can't be verified, which is precisely what made it such a dangerous tool in legal proceedings.
- Prison
- Salem's jail is mentioned right at the beginning, anchoring the poem in a tangible, institutional setting. This serves as a reminder that the hysteria had palpable effects — real individuals were in actual chains — not merely the result of rumor and gossip.
- The children
- The children that Tituba says Martha encouraged her to kill embody innocence and the community's most profound fears. Accusing children was the most effective way to incite the crowd; they symbolize what the witch hunt purported to defend.
§06Historical context
Historical context
This poem comes from Longfellow's play *Giles Corey of the Salem Farms* (1868), which is the fourth in his *New England Tragedies*. He wrote it in the aftermath of the Civil War, a time when Americans were grappling with feelings of collective guilt and the perils of mob justice — issues that echoed the Salem witch trials of 1692. Tituba, an enslaved woman likely from Barbados, belonged to Reverend Samuel Parris. Under duress, she confessed by naming others and describing the Devil's book, which fueled the hysteria that resulted in nineteen executions. Giles Corey was pressed to death with stones for refusing to plead, while Martha Corey was hanged. Longfellow uses Tituba's brief, powerful speech to illustrate how one coerced or complicit voice could ignite chaos within a community.
§07FAQ
Questions readers ask
Tituba was an enslaved woman in Salem who confessed to witchcraft and named others as witches, likely under extreme pressure and torture. Longfellow selects her as the speaker because she ignited the Salem hysteria. By placing these accusations in her words, he compels readers to reflect on coercion, power, and the biases surrounding belief — and the reasons behind them.
No. They were just regular Puritan colonists caught up in the Salem witch trials of 1692. Martha Corey was hanged on September 22, 1692. Giles Corey, on the other hand, refused to plead and was pressed to death under heavy stones on September 19 — a truly infamous execution from that dark period.
It refers to the Devil's book, a significant element of mythology during the Salem trials. Accusers alleged that witches had signed their names in this book to make a pact with Satan. Courts accepted claims about the book as valid evidence, despite the fact that no one ever actually produced it. This is a prime example of how the trials were driven by belief and fear instead of facts.
Spectral evidence referred to claims that the spirit or specter of the accused had shown up to a witness in a dream or vision and performed some harmful act. For instance, Tituba's assertion that Martha Corey's spirit urged her to "Kill the children!" exemplifies this type of evidence. The Salem court accepted such claims, making it nearly impossible to refute an accusation.
This excerpt comes from Longfellow's verse drama *Giles Corey of the Salem Farms*, making it a dramatic speech rather than a separate lyric piece. The short length underscores the message — in just four lines, a reputation is shattered and two individuals face condemnation. Longfellow captures the frightening swiftness of how accusations unfold.
Longfellow penned this in 1868, shortly after the Civil War, during a period when Americans were grappling with themes of collective guilt and the dangers of allowing fear to dictate justice. The poem serves as a cautionary tale: when a community rushes to label someone as guilty without examining real evidence, innocent lives are lost. The Salem trials act as a reflection of his own time.
The poem employs blank verse—unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter—Longfellow's typical style for his New England Tragedies. This absence of rhyme gives it a spoken quality instead of a musical one, which fits well with the dramatic and confessional tone of Tituba's testimony.
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