Henry Longfellow - The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

e-artnow, 2020

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EAN 4064066060640

HYMN TO THE NIGHT. HYMN TO THE NIGHT. Table of Contents

[Greek quotation] [Greek quotation] Table of Contents I heard the trailing garments of the Night Sweep through her marble halls! I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light From the celestial walls! I felt her presence, by its spell of might, Stoop o'er me from above; The calm, majestic presence of the Night, As of the one I love. I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight, The manifold, soft chimes, That fill the haunted chambers of the Night Like some old poet's rhymes. From the cool cisterns of the midnight air My spirit drank repose; The fountain of perpetual peace flows there— From those deep cisterns flows. O holy Night! from thee I learn to bear What man has borne before! Thou layest thy finger on the lips of Care, And they complain no more. Peace! Peace! Orestes-like I breathe this prayer! Descend with broad-winged flight, The welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the most fair, The best-beloved Night!

A PSALM OF LIFE. A PSALM OF LIFE. Table of Contents

WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN SAID TO THE PSALMIST. WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN SAID TO THE PSALMIST. Table of Contents Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul. Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each to-morrow Find us farther than to-day. Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave. In the world's broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife! Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act—act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o'erhead! Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time;— Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.

THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS. THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS. Table of Contents There is a Reaper, whose name is Death, And, with his sickle keen, He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, And the flowers that grow between. "Shall I have naught that is fair?" saith he; "Have naught but the bearded grain? Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, I will give them all back again." He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, He kissed their drooping leaves; It was for the Lord of Paradise He bound them in his sheaves. "My Lord has need of these flowerets gay," The Reaper said, and smiled; "Dear tokens of the earth are they, Where he was once a child. "They shall all bloom in fields of light, Transplanted by my care, And saints, upon their garments white, These sacred blossoms wear." And the mother gave, in tears and pain, The flowers she most did love; She knew she should find them all again In the fields of light above. O, not in cruelty, not in wrath, The Reaper came that day; 'T was an angel visited the green earth, And took the flowers away.

THE LIGHT OF STARS. THE LIGHT OF STARS. Table of Contents The night is come, but not too soon; And sinking silently, All silently, the little moon Drops down behind the sky. There is no light in earth or heaven But the cold light of stars; And the first watch of night is given To the red planet Mars. Is it the tender star of love? The star of love and dreams? O no! from that blue tent above, A hero's armor gleams. And earnest thoughts within me rise, When I behold afar, Suspended in the evening skies, The shield of that red star. O star of strength! I see thee stand And smile upon my pain; Thou beckonest with thy mailed hand, And I am strong again. Within my breast there is no light But the cold light of stars; I give the first watch of the night To the red planet Mars. The star of the unconquered will, He rises in my breast, Serene, and resolute, and still, And calm, and self-possessed. And thou, too, whosoe'er thou art, That readest this brief psalm, As one by one thy hopes depart, Be resolute and calm. O fear not in a world like this, And thou shalt know erelong, Know how sublime a thing it is To suffer and be strong.

FOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS. FOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS. Table of Contents When the hours of Day are numbered, And the voices of the Night Wake the better soul, that slumbered, To a holy, calm delight; Ere the evening lamps are lighted, And, like phantoms grim and tall, Shadows from the fitful firelight Dance upon the parlor wall; Then the forms of the departed Enter at the open door; The beloved, the true-hearted, Come to visit me once more; He, the young and strong, who cherished Noble longings for the strife, By the roadside fell and perished, Weary with the march of life! They, the holy ones and weakly, Who the cross of suffering bore, Folded their pale hands so meekly, Spake with us on earth no more! And with them the Being Beauteous, Who unto my youth was given, More than all things else to love me, And is now a saint in heaven. With a slow and noiseless footstep Comes that messenger divine, Takes the vacant chair beside me, Lays her gentle hand in mine. And she sits and gazes at me With those deep and tender eyes, Like the stars, so still and saint-like, Looking downward from the skies. Uttered not, yet comprehended, Is the spirit's voiceless prayer, Soft rebukes, in blessings ended, Breathing from her lips of air. Oh, though oft depressed and lonely, All my fears are laid aside, If I but remember only Such as these have lived and died!

FLOWERS.

THE BELEAGUERED CITY.

MIDNIGHT MASS FOR THE DYING YEAR

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EARLIER POEMS

AN APRIL DAY

AUTUMN

WOODS IN WINTER.

HYMN OF THE MORAVIAN NUNS OF BETHLEHEM

AT THE CONSECRATION OF PULASKI'S BANNER.

SUNRISE ON THE HILLS

THE SPIRIT OF POETRY

BURIAL OF THE MINNISINK

L' ENVOI

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BALLADS AND OTHER POEMS

THE SKELETON IN ARMOR

THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH

ENDYMION

IT IS NOT ALWAYS MAY

THE RAINY DAY

GOD'S-ACRE.

TO THE RIVER CHARLES.

BLIND BARTIMEUS

THE GOBLET OF LIFE

MAIDENHOOD

EXCELSIOR

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POEMS ON SLAVERY.

TO WILLIAM E. CHANNING

THE SLAVE'S DREAM

THE GOOD PART

THAT SHALL NOT BE TAKEN AWAY

THE SLAVE IN THE DISMAL SWAMP

THE SLAVE SINGING AT MIDNIGHT

THE WITNESSES

THE QUADROON GIRL

THE WARNING

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THE SPANISH STUDENT

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

ACT I.

SERENADE.

ACT II.

SCENE I. — PRECIOSA'S chamber. Morning. PRECIOSA and ANGELICA.

SCENE III. — The Prado. A long avenue of trees leading to the

SCENE IV. — PRECIOSA'S chamber. She is sitting, with a book in

SCENE V. — The COUNT OF LARA'S rooms. Enter the COUNT.

SCENE VIII. — The Theatre. The orchestra plays the cachucha.

SONG.

SCENE XI. — PRECIOSA'S bedchamber. Midnight. She is sleeping in

ACT III.

SONG.

SCENE VI. — A pass in the Guadarrama mountains. Early morning.

SONG.

SONG.

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THE BELFRY OF BRUGES AND OTHER POEMS