Upon the Punishment of Death
Upon the Punishment of Death - meaning Summary
Questioning Capital Punishment's Role
Wordsworth contemplates the moral role of conscience, belief, and law in deterring murder. Addressing the inner spectres that trouble wrongdoers and the social adages that warn against violence, the poem questions whether removing the ultimate legal judgment would undermine those forces. It does not simply condemn or defend capital punishment but probes whether statutory leniency could weaken society’s capacity to prevent deliberate killing by diminishing moral and legal accountability.
Read Complete AnalysesYE brood of conscience--Spectres! that frequent The bad Man's restless walk, and haunt his bed-- Fiends in your aspect, yet beneficent In act, as hovering Angels when they spread Their wings to guard the unconscious Innocent-- Slow be the Statutes of the land to share A laxity that could not but impair 'Your' power to punish crime, and so prevent. And ye, Beliefs! coiled serpent-like about The adage on all tongues, "Murder will out," How shall your ancient warnings work for good In the full might they hitherto have shown, If for deliberate shedder of man's blood Survive not Judgment that requires his own?
Feel free to be first to leave comment.