The Ruptured Poems are a set of poems found within the Ruptured Towers that serve as introductions to the dungeons, their themes and atmospheres. Each poem was carefully chosen to reflect the dungeon in which they are found. Certain dungeons have two poems.
| Poem | Author | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening | Robert Frost | Doubt |
| Prospice | Robert Browning | Fear |
| Stolen Waters | Lewis Carroll | Anguish |
| O Captain! My Captain! | Walt Whitman | Loss |
| The Haunted Palace | Edgar Allan Poe | Misery |
| Invictus | William Ernest Henley | Grief |
| There Will Come Soft Rains | Sara Teasdale | Guilt |
| Amaranth | Tuomas Holopainen* | Rage |
| You'll Never Walk Alone | Oscar Hammerstein II* | Crisis |
| Dream Within a Dream | Edgar Allan Poe | Misery |
| Ozymandias | Percy Bysshe Shelley | Misery |
| Con Te Partirò | Lucio Quarantotto* | Grief |
| Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night | Dylan Thomas | Midna's Tomb |
| Hurt | Trent Reznor* | Hilda's Tomb |
| How Glory Goes | Adam Guettel* | Hilda's Tomb |
| Lascia ch'io pianga | George Frideric Handel
Giacomo Rossi |
Hilda's Tomb |
*Listed poem is a song and the author of its lyrics is credited
Background and Inspiration[]
During development of 6.0, JKalenad intended for nearly every Ruptured Poem to be one by Lewis Carroll. The progression of poems would have been "Solitude," "Faces in the Fire," "Stolen Waters," "Dreamland," "After Three Days," and "Three Sunsets." There Will Come Soft Rains had always been planned for Guilt. JKalenad changed his choice of every poem but "Stolen Waters" in favor of poems by other authors.
Version 6.5 brought several new Ruptured Towers and with them came new poems: Amaranth, You'll Never Walk Alone, and Lascia ch'io pianga, included in Rage, Crisis, and Hilda's Tomb, respectively. Lascia ch'io pianga was included in early development stages of 6.5 but was removed. JKalenad later returned it to Hilda's Tomb.