Hanged by the Neck
Hanged by the Neck
Original Text
F.R. Scott, F.R. Scott: Selected Poems (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1966): 73.
1When a man is to be hanged
2The professionals order themselves
3In ritual rank.
4Above, with the victim,
5Stand the Law and the Church
6To assist at the Killing,
7While under the scaffold
8The Doctor waits
9To receive his trussed patient
10And to test
11Without healing
12The pace of his lingering death.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire / Sharine Leung
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
Form
Special Copyright
Copyright © the estate of F. R. Scott. Included
with the generous permission of William Toye, his literary executor.