WHEREIN IT IS SHOWN THAT THE MOST ARDENT SPIRITS ARE MORE by James Russell Lowell: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
This poem is a lengthy comic tale from James Russell Lowell's satirical piece *The Biglow Papers*, which mocks the 19th-century Spiritualist trend — the practice of holding séances where "spirits" supposedly communicated by knocking and rapping.
The poem
ORNAMENTAL THAN USEFUL Many a speculating wight Came by express-trains, day and night, To see if Knott would 'sell his right,' 550 Meaning to make the ghosts a sight-- What they call a 'meenaygerie;' One threatened, if he would not 'trade,' His run of custom to invade, (He could not these sharp folks persuade That he was not, in some way, paid,) And stamp him as a plagiary, By coming down, at one fell swoop, With THE ORIGINAL KNOCKING TROUPE, Come recently from Hades, 560 Who (for a quarter-dollar heard) Would ne'er rap out a hasty word Whence any blame might be incurred From the most fastidious ladies; The late lamented Jesse Soule, To stir the ghosts up with a pole And be director of the whole, Who was engaged the rather For the rare merits he'd combine, Having been in the spirit line, 570 Which trade he only did resign, With general applause, to shine, Awful in mail of cotton fine, As ghost of Hamlet's father! Another a fair plan reveals Never yet hit on, which, he feels, To Knott's religious sense appeals-- 'We'll have your house set up on wheels, A speculation pious; For music, we can shortly find 580 A barrel-organ that will grind Psalm-tunes--an instrument designed For the New England tour--refined From secular drosses, and inclined To an unworldly turn, (combined With no sectarian bias;) Then, travelling by stages slow, Under the style of Knott & Co., I would accompany the show As moral lecturer, the foe 590 Of Rationalism; while you could throw The rappings in, and make them go Strict Puritan principles, you know, (How _do_ you make 'em? with your toe?) And the receipts which thence might flow, We could divide between us; Still more attractions to combine, Beside these services of mine, I will throw in a very fine (It would do nicely for a sign) 600 Original Titian's Venus.' Another offered handsome fees If Knott would get Demosthenes (Nay, his mere knuckles, for more ease) To rap a few short sentences; Or if, for want of proper keys, His Greek might make confusion, Then just to get a rap from Burke, To recommend a little work On Public Elocution. 610 Meanwhile, the spirits made replies To all the reverent _whats_ and _whys_, Resolving doubts of every size, And giving seekers grave and wise, Who came to know their destinies, A rap-turous reception; When unbelievers void of grace Came to investigate the place, (Creatures of Sadducistic race, With grovelling intellects and base,) 620 They could not find the slightest trace To indicate deception; Indeed, it is declared by some That spirits (of this sort) are glum, Almost, or wholly, deaf and dumb, And (out of self-respect) quite mum To skeptic natures cold and numb Who of _this_ kind of Kingdom Come Have not a just conception: True, there were people who demurred 630 That, though the raps no doubt were heard Both under them and o'er them, Yet, somehow, when a search they made, They found Miss Jenny sore afraid, Or Jenny's lover, Doctor Slade, Equally awestruck and dismayed, Or Deborah, the chambermaid, Whose terrors not to be gainsaid In laughs hysteric were displayed, Was always there before them; This had its due effect with some Who straight departed, muttering, Hum! 642 Transparent hoax! and Gammon! But these were few: believing souls, Came, day by day, in larger shoals, As the ancients to the windy holes 'Neath Delphi's tripod brought their doles, Or to the shrine of Ammon. The spirits seemed exceeding tame, Call whom you fancied, and he came; 650 The shades august of eldest fame You summoned with an awful ease; As grosser spirits gurgled out From chair and table with a spout, In Auerbach's cellar once, to flout The senses of the rabble rout, Where'er the gimlet twirled about Of cunning Mephistopheles, So did these spirits seem in store, Behind the wainscot or the door, Ready to thrill the being's core Of every enterprising bore 662 With their astounding glamour; Whatever ghost one wished to hear, By strange coincidence, was near To make the past or future clear (Sometimes in shocking grammar) By raps and taps, now there, now here-- It seemed as if the spirit queer Of some departed auctioneer 670 Were doomed to practise by the year With the spirit of his hammer: Whate'er you asked was answered, yet One could not very deeply get Into the obliging spirits' debt, Because they used the alphabet In all communications, And new revealings (though sublime) Rapped out, one letter at a time, With boggles, hesitations, 680 Stoppings, beginnings o'er again, And getting matters into train, Could hardly overload the brain With too excessive rations, Since just to ask _if two and two Really make four? or, How d' ye do_? And get the fit replies thereto In the tramundane rat-tat-too, Might ask a whole day's patience. 'Twas strange ('mongst other things) to find 690 In what odd sets the ghosts combined, Happy forthwith to thump any Piece of intelligence inspired, The truth whereof had been inquired By some one of the company; For instance, Fielding, Mirabeau, Orator Henley, Cicero, Paley, John Ziska, Marivaux, Melancthon, Robertson, Junot, 699 Scaliger, Chesterfield, Rousseau, Hakluyt, Boccaccio, South, De Foe, Diaz, Josephus, Richard Roe, Odin, Arminius, Charles _le gros_, Tiresias, the late James Crow, Casabianca, Grose, Prideaux, Old Grimes, Young Norval, Swift, Brissot, Malmonides, the Chevalier D'O, Socrates, Fénelon, Job, Stow. The inventor of _Elixir pro_, Euripides, Spinoza, Poe, 710 Confucius, Hiram Smith, and Fo, Came (as it seemed, somewhat _de trop_) With a disembodied Esquimaux, To say that it was so and so, With Franklin's expedition; One testified to ice and snow, One that the mercury was low, One that his progress was quite slow, One that he much desired to go, One that the cook had frozen his toe, 720 (Dissented from by Dandolo, Wordsworth, Cynaegirus, Boileau, La Hontan, and Sir Thomas Roe,) One saw twelve white bears in a row, One saw eleven and a crow, With other things we could not know (Of great statistic value, though,) By our mere mortal vision. Sometimes the spirits made mistakes, And seemed to play at ducks and drakes. 730 With bold inquiry's heaviest stakes In science or in mystery: They knew so little (and that wrong) Yet rapped it out so bold and strong, One would have said the unnumbered throng Had been Professors of History; What made it odder was, that those Who, you would naturally suppose, Could solve a question, if they chose, As easily as count their toes, 740 Were just the ones that blundered; One day, Ulysses happening down, A reader of Sir Thomas Browne And who (with him) had wondered What song it was the Sirens sang, Asked the shrewd Ithacan--_bang! bang!_ With this response the chamber rang, 'I guess it was Old Hundred.' And Franklin, being asked to name The reason why the lightning came, 750 Replied, 'Because it thundered.' On one sole point the ghosts agreed One fearful point, than which, indeed, Nothing could seem absurder; Poor Colonel Jones they all abused And finally downright accused The poor old man of murder; 'Twas thus; by dreadful raps was shown Some spirit's longing to make known A bloody fact, which he alone 760 Was privy to, (such ghosts more prone In Earth's affairs to meddle are;) _Who are you?_ with awe-stricken looks, All ask: his airy knuckles he crooks, And raps, 'I _was_ Eliab Snooks, That used to be a pedler; Some on ye still are on my books!' Whereat, to inconspicuous nooks, (More fearing this than common spooks) Shrank each indebted meddler; Further the vengeful ghost declared 771 That while his earthly life was spared, About the country he had fared, A duly licensed follower Of that much-wandering trade that wins Slow profit from the sale of tins And various kinds of hollow-ware; That Colonel Jones enticed him in, Pretending that he wanted tin, There slew him with a rolling-pin, Hid him in a potato-bin, 781 And (the same night) him ferried Across Great Pond to t'other shore, And there, on land of Widow Moore, Just where you turn to Larkin's store, Under a rock him buried; Some friends (who happened to be by) He called upon to testify That what he said was not a lie, And that he did not stir this 790 Foul matter, out of any spite But from a simple love of right;-- Which statements the Nine Worthies, Rabbi Akiba, Charlemagne, Seth, Golley Gibber, General Wayne, Cambyses, Tasso, Tubal-Cain, The owner of a castle in Spain, Jehanghire, and the Widow of Nain, (The friends aforesaid,) made more plain And by loud raps attested; 800 To the same purport testified Plato, John Wilkes, and Colonel Pride Who knew said Snooks before he died, Had in his wares invested, Thought him entitled to belief And freely could concur, in brief, In everything the rest did. Eliab this occasion seized, (Distinctly here the spirit sneezed,) To say that he should ne'er be eased 810 Till Jenny married whom she pleased, Free from all checks and urgin's, (This spirit dropt his final g's) And that, unless Knott quickly sees This done, the spirits to appease, They would come back his life to tease, As thick as mites in ancient cheese, And let his house on an endless lease To the ghosts (terrific rappers these And veritable Eumenides) 820 Of the Eleven Thousand Virgins! Knott was perplexed and shook his head, He did not wish his child to wed With a suspected murderer, (For, true or false, the rumor spread,) But as for this roiled life he led, 'It would not answer,' so he said, 'To have it go no furderer.' At last, scarce knowing what it meant, Reluctantly he gave consent 830 That Jenny, since 'twas evident That she _would_ follow her own bent, Should make her own election; For that appeared the only way These frightful noises to allay Which had already turned him gray And plunged him in dejection. Accordingly, this artless maid Her father's ordinance obeyed, 839 And, all in whitest crape arrayed, (Miss Pulsifer the dresses made And wishes here the fact displayed That she still carries on the trade, The third door south from Bagg's Arcade,) A very faint 'I do' essayed And gave her hand to Hiram Slade, From which time forth, the ghosts were laid, And ne'er gave trouble after; But the Selectmen, be it known, Dug underneath the aforesaid stone, 850 Where the poor pedler's corpse was thrown, And found thereunder a jaw-bone, Though, when the crowner sat thereon, He nothing hatched, except alone Successive broods of laughter; It was a frail and dingy thing, In which a grinder or two did cling, In color like molasses, Which surgeons, called from far and wide. Upon the horror to decide, 860 Having put on their glasses, Reported thus: 'To judge by looks, These bones, by some queer hooks or crooks, May have belonged to Mr. Snooks, But, as men deepest read in books Are perfectly aware, bones, If buried fifty years or so, Lose their identity and grow From human bones to bare bones.' Still, if to Jaalam you go down, You'll find two parties in the town, 871 One headed by Benaiah Brown, And one by Perez Tinkham; The first believe the ghosts all through And vow that they shall never rue The happy chance by which they knew That people in Jupiter are blue, And very fond of Irish stew, Two curious facts which Prince Lee Boo 879 Rapped clearly to a chosen few-- Whereas the others think 'em A trick got up by Doctor Slade With Deborah the chambermaid And that sly cretur Jinny. That all the revelations wise, At which the Brownites made big eyes, Might have been given by Jared Keyes, A natural fool and ninny, And, last week, didn't Eliab Snooks Come back with never better looks, 890 As sharp as new-bought mackerel hooks, And bright as a new pin, eh? Good Parson Wilbur, too, avers (Though to be mixed in parish stirs Is worse than handling chestnut-burrs) That no case to his mind occurs Where spirits ever did converse, Save in a kind of guttural Erse, (So say the best authorities;) And that a charge by raps conveyed 900 Should be most scrupulously weighed And searched into, before it is Made public, since it may give pain That cannot soon be cured again, And one word may infix a stain Which ten cannot gloss over, Though speaking for his private part, He is rejoiced with all his heart Miss Knott missed not her lover.
This poem is a lengthy comic tale from James Russell Lowell's satirical piece *The Biglow Papers*, which mocks the 19th-century Spiritualist trend — the practice of holding séances where "spirits" supposedly communicated by knocking and rapping. It centers on a man named Knott, whose home is said to be haunted by talkative ghosts, drawing in con artists, true believers, and skeptics. The whole spectacle wraps up when his daughter Jenny is eventually allowed to marry the man she loves. Through the ridiculousness of the ghost-rapping scene, Lowell criticizes gullibility, con artistry, and the deep human desire to believe in something beyond everyday life.
Line-by-line
Many a speculating wight / Came by express-trains, day and night,
One threatened, if he would not 'trade,' / His run of custom to invade,
Another a fair plan reveals / Never yet hit on, which, he feels,
Another offered handsome fees / If Knott would get Demosthenes
Meanwhile, the spirits made replies / To all the reverent _whats_ and _whys_,
True, there were people who demurred / That, though the raps no doubt were heard
The spirits seemed exceeding tame, / Call whom you fancied, and he came;
'Twas strange ('mongst other things) to find / In what odd sets the ghosts combined,
Sometimes the spirits made mistakes, / And seemed to play at ducks and drakes.
On one sole point the ghosts agreed / One fearful point, than which, indeed,
Knott was perplexed and shook his head, / He did not wish his child to wed
Accordingly, this artless maid / Her father's ordinance obeyed,
Still, if to Jaalam you go down, / You'll find two parties in the town,
Tone & mood
The tone is playfully satirical throughout — imagine a well-read comedian delivering an extended take on human gullibility. Lowell maintains a lighthearted energy even while addressing serious issues like fraud, reputation, and the manipulation of belief. The rhyme scheme, which features long stretches of the same sound, often extending for a dozen lines, becomes a joke in itself, leading to comic fatigue. Beneath the mockery lies a sense of warmth: Lowell has a clear fondness for Jenny and Parson Wilbur, and the poem concludes with a feeling of affection for the absurdity of it all.
Symbols & metaphors
- The rapping / knocking — The poem's central symbol is the knocks. They represent the divide between what people want to believe and the reality of the situation. For believers, the knocks are 'proof' of the supernatural, while skeptics view them as clear fraud. Lowell illustrates how both groups perceive exactly what they expect to see.
- The long lists of famous dead — The gathering of historical, mythological, and fictional figures crammed into one séance room highlights the absurdity of democracy: death is meant to bring wisdom, yet Lowell's ghosts are just as bewildered, contradictory, and self-serving as the living. These lists also poke fun at the Spiritualist tendency to name-drop well-known spirits to lend legitimacy.
- The jawbone — The physical 'evidence' of the murder — a grim, unclear old bone — reflects how Spiritualist 'proof' often ends up being something that could signify anything or nothing at all. The surgeons' claim that bones lose their identity after fifty years serves as a subtle joke about how evidence, much like memory, fades into irrelevance.
- The barrel organ grinding psalm tunes — The barrel organ playing hymns in the proposed touring show reflects the cynical blend of religious sentiment and commercial entertainment that Lowell identified as central to the Spiritualist movement. Sacred music turns into a marketing tool.
- Jenny's marriage — Jenny's choice of her own husband is the true resolution the poem has been leading to. Her freedom represents a basic human longing for self-determination that often gets overshadowed by superstition, parental control, and societal expectations — yet ultimately prevails.
Historical context
Lowell penned this as part of *The Biglow Papers*, a lengthy satirical work he released in the mid-19th century. This segment focuses on the Fox Sisters phenomenon: in 1848, Kate and Maggie Fox from upstate New York claimed they could communicate with spirits through mysterious knocking sounds. Their claims sparked a craze that spread across America and Britain for decades. Séances turned into popular parlor entertainment, leading to the rise of a whole industry of mediums, lecturers, and showmen. As a Harvard-educated abolitionist and one of the sharpest comic writers of his time, Lowell viewed the movement as a blend of genuine yearning, blatant deception, and commercial exploitation. He sets his satire in the fictional New England town of Jaalam, narrated by the rustic Hosea Biglow and framed by the pedantic Parson Wilbur — a technique that allows Lowell to lampoon both the gullible and the overly refined simultaneously.
FAQ
No, it's a satire. Lowell is poking fun at the 19th-century Spiritualist craze, where people would pay to attend séances and observe 'spirits' communicating through knocking. The poem clearly suggests that Jenny and her lover, Doctor Slade, are pretending to be involved in this to manipulate her father into allowing them to marry.
Kate and Maggie Fox were young women from upstate New York who, in 1848, said they could communicate with a dead peddler through strange knocking sounds. They gained notoriety, helped start the Spiritualist movement, and were later revealed to be frauds—they had been cracking their toe joints. Lowell's poem humorously addresses this very phenomenon, even referencing the detail about the murdered peddler.
That's the joke. Séances often claimed to bring back famous historical figures — like Napoleon, Shakespeare, and Socrates — to give the events a sense of importance. Lowell pushes this habit to absurd extremes, blending actual historical figures with fictional characters ('Young Norval,' 'Richard Roe'), mythological beings, and total nobodies ('Old Grimes') until the list becomes laughably ridiculous.
It's a play on the word 'rapturous' (which means ecstatic or delighted) and 'rap' (the knocking used by spirits to communicate). Lowell enjoys this type of wordplay throughout the poem — it maintains a light tone while also suggesting he believes the entire affair is as much a linguistic trick as it is a physical one.
Benjamin Franklin found out that lightning is electrical, and Ulysses (Odysseus) is the one who actually heard the Sirens' song. So, asking Franklin why lightning occurs and asking Ulysses what the Sirens sang should yield expert answers. Instead, Franklin responds that lightning comes "Because it thundered," and Ulysses guesses the Sirens sang "Old Hundred," a well-known hymn. The humor lies in the fact that death doesn’t grant wisdom—the spirits remain just as clueless as anyone else, undermining the entire idea of seeking their counsel.
Almost certainly not. The murder accusation is likely a fabrication by Jenny and Slade to pressure Knott. The jawbone found under the rock is ultimately unidentifiable, the 'ghost' of Snooks later reappears looking perfectly healthy, and the whole case ends in laughter. Lowell leverages the false accusation to underscore a serious point at the end: spreading unverified ghost stories can ruin an innocent person’s reputation.
Parson Wilbur serves as the framing narrator in *The Biglow Papers*. He’s a knowledgeable, careful, and somewhat self-important clergyman from New England, embodying a sense of educated common sense. His concluding thought—that ghost testimony should be weighed thoughtfully before damaging someone's reputation—acts as the poem's moral center. He also candidly expresses his happiness for Jenny in getting her man, which prevents him from coming off as overly judgmental.
Lowell employs lengthy sequences of the same rhyme sound—sometimes stretching to eight, ten, or even more consecutive lines—before introducing a new rhyme. This is a purposeful comedic strategy: the rhymes accumulate to the point of becoming both exhausting and humorous, reflecting how the spirit-rapping craze continuously generated increasingly ridiculous 'evidence' that supporters eagerly accepted.