Shelby Peavy

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and teacher during the 19th

century. Longfellow's poems are significant due to their ease of rhyme, which grasp to

your mind making them unforgettable, known as lyric poetry. His poems also have

themes that were easily understood and relatable to readers. The writings appeal to

different types of people and have a popular theme. Longfellows themes tend to focus on

his personal experiences and having meaning in life. Analyzed will be three poems

authored by the infamous Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that portrays the common theme

of hope through his personal life experiences used in his works.

The poem Psalm of life By Longfellow is about life and death but its focus is on

positive views of dying. It glorifies embracing death and not the bad outcomes that occur

during death. For example, he says, Not enjoyment and not sorrow...find us farther

than the today (line 9). This stanza is expressing that death is not supposed to be good or

bad but we should let each day be better than the last day. David Peck references Edward

Wagenknecht explanation of the poem saying the poem "expressed the aspiring,

exploratory spirit of the age."(Wagenknecht, qtd. in Peck 33) Another example that gives

the poem a feel of embracing death would be where it states Lives of great men all

remind us...footprints on the sands of time (line 2-5). In other words, this means leave

your mark in the world by doing something that will carry on for generations worldwide.

In the poem The Lighthouse Longfellow again expresses how one should find

meaning in their lives, even in darkness. Magdalena Zapedowska explains The

reference to the lighthouse's "words of love" in line 52 and its apostrophe to the ships in

the final stanza celebrate the triumph of signification over meaninglessness and confirm
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the lighthouse's status as the center and source of meaning.(Zapedowska 30) In line 53 it

says Sail on!" it says, "sail on, ye stately ships! meaning keep going. He then says Be

mine to guard this light from all eclipse, meaning it is up to him to guard his happiness

from darkness, the same responsibility of all men. This poem is directed towards him

having to bring his own joy to his life by finding meaning even through all the darkness

he has experienced.

The poem The Cross of Snow is about death but focuses on the grief and

sorrow that accompanies death in life. This particular poem was created from all of the

sadness Wadsworth built over the years. One notable incident occurred with the death of

his wife. She died from a freak accident that resulted in her being burned to death. Alice

Petry identifies that "Sonnet XXIII" and "The Cross of Snow" are grounded in

apparently real, intense personal experiences.(Petry 301) The poem begins with the

line, "In the long, sleepless watches of the night," which sets up the sadness and grief that

remains present in his life as he stays up at night thinking of her. (line 1-2) The title of

this poem symbolizes the grief that he dealt with daily about the death of his wife. There

is a line in the poem that says These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes and

seasons, changeless since the day she died.(line 13-14) These lines refer to him still

being saddened and depressed even after the years passed he still wasn't able to get over

her death.

After comparing various works produced by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow the

common theme remains. Longfellow uses his personal experiences to help readers

acknowledge that it is up to them to continue on with life after unpleasant situations.

Longfellows poems were easily understandable, which some critics disliked. However,
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the meaning behind his poems helped people to overcome poverty and other tragedies by

having them find meaning in their own lives and finding something to live for. Psalm of

Life, The Lighthouse, and The Cross of Snow are poems that will be recognized by

generations and for good reasons. Henry Longfellow was an optimist and his works

expressed his views.

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Works Cited

Peck, David R. "Let Us, Then, Be Up And Doing." Anq 16.3 (2003): 30-35. Literary
Reference Center. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Zapedowska, Magdalena. "Longfellow's THE LIGHTHOUSE." Explicator 65.1 (2006):

28-31. Literary Reference Center. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.

Petry, Alice Hall. "Longfellow's "The Cross Of Snow" And Milton." Essays In Literature
11.2 (1984): 299-304. Literary Reference Center. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.