<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style type='text/css'>
td.topped {
vertical-align: top;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table>
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" class="topped">in vertical top</td>
<td>s0me</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>t3xt</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>