Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Complete in Two Volumes
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<JAe SSc&tcn c/it^/ic ^btiwawu, tAic^£iik^.^tk..!h^M^. //, y />///*/ ' >//y f/ POEMS HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. COMPLETE IN TWO VOLUMES VOLUME I. BOSTON: TICKNOR AND FIELDS M DCCC LVII, A T30 $%¥ / {A Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by Henry W. Longfellow, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. riverside, Cambridge: stereotyped and printed by h. 0. houghton and company. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. VOICES OF THE NIGHT. PAGE Prelude ... 3 VOICES OF THE NIGHT. Hymn to the Night 9 A"Psalm of Life 10 The Beaper and the Flowers 11 The Light of Stars 12 Footsteps of Angels 13 Flowers 15 The Beleaguered City 17 Midnight Mass for the Dying Year 19 EAELIEE POEMS. An April Day 23 Autumn 24 Woods in Winter 25 Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem 26 Sunrise on the Hills 28 The Spirit of Poetry 29 Burial of the Minnisink 31 TRANSLATIONS. Coplas de Manrique 35 The Good Shepherd 51 To Morrow 51 The Native Land 52 The Image of God 52 The Brook 53 The Celestial Pilot 54 The Terrestrial Paradise 55 Beatrice 57 Spring 59 The Child Asleep 60 The Grave 60 King Christian 62 The" Happiest Land 63 The Wave 65 The Dead 65 IV CONTENTS. PAGE The Bird and the Ship 66 Whither? 67 Beware ! 68 Song of the Bell 69 The Castle by the Sea 70 The Black Knight 71 Song of the Silent Land 73 L'Envoi 74 BALLADS AND OTHER POEMS. Preface 77 BALLADS. The Skeleton in Armour 89 The Wreck of the Hesperus 95 The Luck of Edenhall 98 The Elected Knight 100 THE CHILDREN OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. The Children of the Lord's Supper 105 MISCELL ANEOUS. The Village Blacksmith 127 Endvmion 128 The'Two Locks of Hair 130 It is not always May 131 The Rainy Day 132 God's-Acre 132 To the River Charles 133 Blind Bartimeus 134 The Goblet of Life 135 Maidenhood 137 Excelsior 139 POEMS ON SLAVERY. To William E. Channing 143 The Slave's Dream 144 The Good Part 145 The Slave in the Dismal Swamp 147 The Slave singing at Midnight 148 The Witnesses .149 The Quadroon Girl 150 The Warning 152 CONTENTS. THE SPANISH STUDENT. PAGE The Spanish Student 155 THE BELERY OE BRUGES AND OTHER POEMS. Carillon 227 The Belfry of Bruges 233 MISCELLANEOUS. A Gleam of Sunshine 239 The Arsenal at Springfield 241 Nuremberg 243 The Norman Baron 246 Rain in Summer 248 To a Child 251 The Occultation of Orion 256 The Bridge 259 To the Driving Cloud 261 SONGS. Seaweed 265 The Day is done 266 Afternoon in February 268 To an Old Danish Song-Book 269 Walter von der Vogelweide 271 Drinking Song 273 The Old Clock on the Stairs 274 The Arrow and the Song 277 SONNETS. The Evening Star 281 Autumn 281 Dante 282 TRANSLATIONS. The Hemlock-Tree 285 Annie of Tharaw 286 The Statue over the Cathedral Door 287 The Legend of the Crossbill 288 The Sea hath its Pearls 289 Poetic Aphorisms 290 Curfew 295 CONTENTS. THE SEASIDE AND THE FIRESIDE. PAGE Dedication 299 BY THE SEASIDE. The Building of the Ship 303 The Evening Star 314 The Secret of the Sea 315 Twilight 316 Sir Humphrey Gilbert 317 The Lighthouse 318 The Fire of Drift-wood 320 BY THE FIRESIDE. Resignation 325 The Builders 327 Sand of the Desert in an Hour-glass 328 Birds of Passage 330 The Open Window 331 King Witlaf's Drinking-horn 332 Gaspar Becerra 333 Pegasus in Pound 334 Tegner's Drapa 336 Sonnet 339 The Singers 339 Suspiria 340 Hymn 341 TRANSLATIONS. The Blind Girl of Castel-Cuille 345 A Christmas Carol 356 Notes 361 VOICES OF THE NIGHT. 1839. ; ; — — PEELUDE. ?leasant it was, when woods were green, And winds were soft and low, To lie amid some sylvan scene, Where, the long drooping boughs between, Shadows dark and sunlight sheen Alternate come and go Or where the denser grove receives No sunlight from above, But the dark foliage interweaves In one unbroken roof of leaves, Underneath whose sloping eaves The shadows hardly move. Beneath some patriarchal tree I lay upon the ground His hoary arms uplifted he, And all the broad leaves over me Clapped their little hands in glee, With one continuous sound ; A slumberous sound,—a sound that brings The feelings of a dream, As of innumerable wings, As, when a bell no longer swings, Faint the hollow murmur rings O'er meadow, lake, and stream. And dreams of that which cannot die, Bright visions, came to me, As lapped in thought I used to lie, And gaze into the summer sky, Where the sailing clouds went by, Like ships upon the sea; (3) ; ; ;! ! ; ! ; PRELUDE. Dreams that the soul of youth engage Ere Fancy has been quelled Old legends of the monkish page, Traditions of the saint and sage, Tales that have the rime of age, And chronicles of Eld. And, loving still these quaint old themes, Even in the city's throng I feel the freshness of the streams, That, crossed by shades and sunny gleams, Water the green land of dreams, The holy land of song. Therefore, at Pentecost, which brings The Spring, clothed like a bride. When nestling buds unfold their wings, And bishop's-caps have golden rings, Musing upon many things, I sought the woodlands wide. The green trees whispered low and mild It was a sound of joy! They were my playmates when a child, And rocked me in their arms so -wild Still they looked at me and smiled, As if t were a boy And ever whispered, mild and low, " " Come, be a child once more ! And waved their long arms to and fro, And beckoned solemnly and slow 0, 1 could not choose but go Into the woodlands hoar Into the blithe and breathing air, Into the solemn wood, Solemn and silent everywhere Nature with folded hands seemed there, Kneeling at her evening prayer Like one in prayer I stood. Before me rose an avenue Of tall and sombrous pines; Abroad their fan-like branches grew, And, where the sunshine darted' through, Spread a vapor soft and blue, In long and sloping lines. ! '! ! —! — PRELUDE And, falling on my weary brain, Like a fast-falling shower, The dreams of youth came back again, Low lispings of the summer rain, Dropping on the ripened grain, As once upon the flower. Visions of childhood! Stay, stay! Ye were so sweet and wild And distant voices seemed to say, " It cannot be ! They pass away Other themes demand thy lay; Thou art no more a child " The land of Song within thee lies, Watered by living springs; The lids of Fancy's sleepless eyes Are gates unto that Paradise, Holy thoughts, like stars, arise, Its clouds are angels' wings. " Learn, that henceforth thy song shall be, Not mountains capped with snow, Nor forests sounding like the sea, Nor rivers flowing ceaselessly, Where the woodlands bend to see The bending heavens below. " There is a forest where the din Of iron branches sounds! A mighty river roars between, And whosoever looks therein, Sees the heavens all black with sin, Sees not its depths, nor bounds. " Athwart the swinging branches cast, Soft rays of sunshine pour; Then comes the fearful wintry blast; Our hopes, like withered leaves, fall fast; Pallid lips say, ' It is past We can return no more ! " Look, then, into thine heart, and write! Yes, into Life's deep stream! All forms of sorrow and delight, All solemn Voices of the Night, That can soothe thee, or affright, Be these henceforth thv theme." VOICES OF THE NIGHT. Rorvia, TvoTvta vv^ v-rrvodoTupa ruv ttoAvkovcov [3porcJv, 'Epef36$ev l&r fj.6?ie [i67ie KaTairrepog 'Aya/xefivovtov enl ddfiov bird jap aXyeuv, vno re avfioopdg 6iolx6/j.e-&\ olx6{ie&a. EURIPIDES. ; ; HYMN TO THE NIGHT. ' konaoir} , TpilliGTog. 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 therc,- 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. ! ! ; 10 VOICES OF THE NIGHT. this ! Peace ! Peace ! Orestes-like I breathe prayer Descend with broad-winged flight, The welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the most fair, The best-beloved Night A PSALM OF LIFE. WHAT THE HEART OP THE YOUNG MAN SAID TO THE PSALMIST. 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.