''Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight'' is a narrative poem by

Rose Hartwick Thorpe Rose Hartwick Thorpe (July 18, 1850 – July 19, 1939) was an American poet and writer, remembered largely for the narrative poem, '' Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight'' (1867), which gained national popularity. It was translated into nearly every lan ...

, written in 1867 and set in the 17th century. It was written when she was 16 years old and first published in ''Detroit Commercial Advertiser''. The poem consists of ten stanzas of six lines each, written in

catalectic A catalectic line is a metrically incomplete line of verse, lacking a syllable at the end or ending with an incomplete foot. One form of catalexis is headlessness, where the unstressed syllable is dropped from the beginning of the line. A line ...

trochaic octameter Trochaic octameter is a poetic meter with eight trochaic metrical feet per line. Each foot has one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. Trochaic octameter is a rarely used meter. Description and uses The best known work in trochai ...

; the ending of the last verse of each stanza is a variant of the title.

Synopsis

The story involves Bessie, a young woman whose lover, Basil Underwood, has been arrested, thrown in prison by the Puritans and sentenced to die that night when the

curfew bell The curfew bell was a bell rung in the evening in Medieval England as the curfew signal for everyone to go to bed.Wood/Peshall, p. 177 A bell was rung usually around eight o'clock in the evening which meant for them to cover their fires — deaden ...

rings. Knowing that

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

will be late in arriving, the young woman begs the old sexton to prevent the ringing of the curfew bell. When he refuses, she climbs to the top of the bell tower and heroically risks her life by manually stopping the bell from ringing. Cromwell hears of her deed and is so moved that he issues a pardon for Underwood.

Inspiration and publication

The material upon which Rose Hartwick Thorpe based her poem is

Lydia Sigourney Lydia Huntley Sigourney (September 1, 1791 – June 10, 1865), ''née'' Lydia Howard Huntley, was an American poet, author, and publisher during the early and mid 19th century. She was commonly known as the "Sweet Singer of Hartford." She had a ...

's article "Love and Loyalty", which appeared posthumously in ''

Peterson's Magazine ''Peterson's Magazine'' (1842–1898) was an American magazine focused on women. It was published monthly and based in Philadelphia. In 1842, Charles Jacobs Peterson and George Rex Graham, partners in the '' Saturday Evening Post'', agreed ...

'' in September 1865. It is likely to have been based on the earlier work "

Blanche Heriot Blanche Heriot was a legendary heroine from Chertsey, Surrey, whose story was brought to a wider public in two works by the Chertsey-born early Victorian writer Albert Smith. Background In 1842 Smith's first play, ''Blanche Heriot, or The Cherts ...

. A legend of old

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in the ...

Church", which was published by

Albert Richard Smith Albert Richard Smith (24 May 181623 May 1860) was an English author, entertainer, and mountaineer. Biography Literary career Smith was born at Chertsey, Surrey. The son of a surgeon, he studied medicine in London and in Paris, and his first ...

in ''The Wassail-Bowl'', Vol. II., in 1843. In Smith's account, the young woman,

, has a lover known as Neville Audley, and the action takes place in 1471 during the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

in England. Thorpe wrote her poem in 1867, following the American Civil War, while living in

Litchfield, Michigan Litchfield is a city in Hillsdale County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,399 at the 2020 census. The city is surrounded by Litchfield Township, but the two are administered autonomously. History The area was first settled b ...

. She traded the manuscript to a Detroit newspaper in exchange for a subscription.Danilov, Victor J. ''Women and Museums: A Comprehensive Guide''. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2005: 62.

In popular culture

Thorpe's poem, a favorite of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's, was one of the most popular of the 19th century, but later faded into obscurity. An 8-foot monument in Litchfield, Michigan along State Highway 99 honors the poem and author's connection to that town. In the 1890s, playwright

David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of m ...

used "Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight" as an inspiration for his play '' The Heart of Maryland''. As he recalled,

"The picture of that swaying young figure hanging heroically to the clapper of an old church bell lived in my memory for a quarter of a century. When the time came that I needed a play to exploit the love and heroism of a woman I wrote a play around that picture."

References in other genres

A late Victorian English poem from the 1880s, "Chertsey Curfew" by Boyd Montgomerie Ranking, treats the same events. The poem was set to music in 1895, by Stanley Hawley and published as sheet music by Robert Cooks and Co. The poem was widely known in the English-speaking world. In her novel ''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

'' (1908), set in

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

, author

Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with '' Anne of Green Gables''. She ...

has the character Prissy Andrews recite it. Three

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

s were made based on the poem. For two of the films, the title was modified to ''Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight''. No sound version has been made, but later 20th century films referred to this poem. Jack Warner quoted the poem ironically in the film '' Scrooge'' (1951).

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

quoted it at length (for comedic effect) in the film ''

Desk Set ''Desk Set'' (released as ''His Other Woman'' in the UK) is a 1957 American romantic comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The screenplay was written by Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron from the 1955 p ...

'' (1957). She provides a melodramatic reading while a revolutionary new computer created by Richard Sumner (

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

) prints out the poem in response to a misspelled request for information on

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

. An illustrated version of this poem is contained in ''

Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated ''Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated'' is a 1940 book by James Thurber. Thurber updates some old fables and creates some new ones of his own. Notably there is 'The Bear Who Could Take It Or Leave It Alone' about a bear who lapses in ...

'' by

James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' and collected in ...

(1940). The poem is mentioned by author

Antonia White Antonia White (born Eirene Adeline Botting; 31 March 1899 – 10 April 1980) was a British writer and translator, known primarily for ''Frost in May'', a semi-autobiographical novel set in a convent school. It was the first book reissued by Virag ...

in her autobiography ''As Once in May''. As a child she read it repeatedly until she knew it by heart. A parody poem '' Towser shall be Tied Tonight'' was written by Anonymous. Set in Kansas, it tells the story of two lovers whose tryst is threatened by the eponymous guard dog.

References

External links

Full text and illustrations.
Public Domain, high resolution images from the book, along with the full text of the poem.
Curfew must not ring to-night, at LiteraryPlaces.co.uk
* Bullwinkle J. Moose quotes the poem in Season 5, episode 28 ("Wossamotta U", 1963) in ''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.'' (1963). * In the final episode of the television series '' Bachelor Father,'' "Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight" (1962), two characters recite final lines from the poem, in reference to the curfew of a college boarding house.{{Cite web, url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0905683/, title=Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight, date=June 26, 1962, via=IMDb 1867 poems