Whittier, John Greenleaf. "Ichabod!".

Summary and Analysis

The poem is an attack on the statesman who championed the bill providing that northern states must return runaway slaves caught within their borders. The title of the poem is derived from the Bible: "And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel." Calling the statesman Ichabod suggests the ingloriousness of his action.

Despite its shortness, the poem resembles an elegy, a wailing song. The speaker wails the fallen angel, a man who was tempted by the wicked one and who has fallen a prey. The speaker addresses the reader and urges not to scorn or insult him, but to pity him and cry for him. He was deprived of the hope of heaven; we should mourn him as dead. The soul has gone away and the man is dead, we should then pay tribute to his dead fame.