Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Feb. 27, 1807 - Mar. 24, 1882

 

Endymion

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The rising moon has hid the stars;
Her level rays, like golden bars,
Lie on the landscape green,
With shadows brown between.

And silver white the river gleams,
As if Diana in her dreams,
Had dropt her silver bow
Upon the meadows low.

On such a tranquil night as this,
She woke Endymion with a kiss,
When sleeping in the grove,
He dreamed not of her love.

Like Dian's kiss, unasked, unsought,
Love gives itself, but is not bought;
Nor voice, nor sound betrays
Its deep, impassioned gaze.

It comes -- the beautiful, the free,
The crown of all humanity --
In silence and alone
To seek the elected one.

It lifts the boughs, whose shadows deep,
Are life's oblivion, the soul's sleep,
And kisses the closed eyes
Of him who slumbering lies.

O, weary hearts! O, slumbering eyes!
O, drooping souls whose destinies
Are fraught with fear and pain,
Ye shall be loved again!

No one is so accursed by fate,
No one so utterly desolate,
But some heart, though unknown,
Responds unto his own.

Responds -- as if with unseen wings,
An angel touched its quivering strings;
And whispers, in its song,
Where hast thou stayed so long?

Source:

Longfellow's Poetical Works
Copyright 1893
Henry Frowde, London
 

Recommended Works

Avenging and Bright Fell The Swift Sword Of Erin - Thomas MooreThe Bells - Edgar Allan PoeThe Fortune-Teller - Thomas MooreEndure - Achsa White SpragueOdes Of Anacreon: Cupid, whose lamp has lent the ray... - Thomas MooreHow Shall I Woo? - Thomas MooreThe Indian Serenade - Percy Bysshe ShelleyThe Day Of Love - Thomas MooreSurrender - Ella Wheeler WilcoxThou Art, O God - Thomas MooreFishing - Ella Wheeler WilcoxLove's Extravagance - Ella Wheeler WilcoxWhat Love Is - Ella Wheeler WilcoxThe Old Clock On The Stairs - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowSand Of The Desert In An Hour-Glass - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe Flowers In The Cemetery - Hannah Flagg GouldThe House Of Clouds - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningFollow to the deep wood's weeds,... - Percy Bysshe ShelleyEndymion - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowTo Harriet (Thy look of love ...) - Percy Bysshe ShelleyDid Not - Thomas MooreTell Me Where The Maid Is Found - Thomas MooreLove's Language - Ella Wheeler WilcoxThe Sea Hath Its Pearls - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowAnswered - Ella Wheeler WilcoxImpromptu - Thomas MooreOh, No - Not E'en When First We Loved. - Thomas MooreWoman - Ella Wheeler WilcoxOld and New - Ella Wheeler WilcoxThe Husband Speaks - Elizabeth StoddardThe Soul's Expression - Elizabeth Barrett BrowningThe White Flag - John HayHer Eyes - Madison Julius CaweinTo The Queen Of My Heart - Percy Bysshe ShelleyIf Thou'lt Be Mine - Thomas MooreThe Siren's Song - Thomas MooreO Lay Thy Hand In Mine, Dear! - Gerald MasseyThe Rock-A-By Lady - Eugene FieldEpitaph On Holy Willie - Robert BurnsWhen Love Is Kind - Thomas MooreWhat The Bee Is To The Floweret - Thomas MooreFalse Poets And True - Thomas HoodMistakes - Ella Wheeler WilcoxLesbia Hath A Beaming Eye - Thomas MooreConstancy - Ella Wheeler WilcoxSmiles And Tears - Thomas MooreCold And Quiet - Jean IngelowHe That Looketh - Ella Wheeler WilcoxMomus, God Of Laughter - Ella Wheeler WilcoxSong To Celia - Ben JonsonConversion - Ella Wheeler WilcoxWe Are Seven - William WordsworthRow Gently Here - Thomas MooreMy Secret - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowOdes To Nea: There's not a look, a word of thine... - Thomas MooreEcho - Thomas MooreTis Sweet To Think - Thomas MooreNay, Do Not Weep - Thomas MooreThe Rose - James Whitcomb RileyOh! Doubt Me Not - Thomas MooreLove Much - Ella Wheeler WilcoxThe Mother's Pride - James NackLove's Rose - Percy Bysshe ShelleyLove - Percy Bysshe ShelleyLove Analysed - Thomas MooreCommunism - Ella Wheeler WilcoxThe Bells of Lynn - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowTo Autumn - John KeatsThe Castilian Maid - Thomas MooreLove And Time - Thomas MooreRemember The Alamo - Rose Hartwick ThorpeTo [Harriet]. (Yet look on me...) - Percy Bysshe ShelleyStrange Meeting - Wilfred OwenUpon the Sand - Ella Wheeler WilcoxThe Favorite Flower - Celia ThaxterDaily Trials - Oliver Wendell HolmesOdes To Nea: You read it in my languid eyes... - Thomas MooreWedded Souls - Percy Bysshe ShelleyThe Wife Speaks - Elizabeth StoddardSpoken - Helen Hunt JacksonThe Beautiful Land Of Nod - Ella Wheeler WilcoxRain And Wind - Madison Julius CaweinThe Iron Pen - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe Time I've Lost In Wooing - Thomas MooreThe Passionate Shepherd To His Love - Christopher MarloweAd Vilmum Axiologum - Samuel Taylor ColeridgeThe Sandpiper - Celia ThaxterMutual Passion - Samuel Taylor ColeridgeIn Flanders Fields - John McCraeTo A Blank Sheet Of Paper - Oliver Wendell HolmesContentment - Oliver Wendell HolmesAchievements - Ella Wheeler WilcoxWedded Love - James NackDear Fanny - Thomas MooreTo Ladies' Eyes - Thomas MooreWas, Is, And Yet-To-Be - Ella Wheeler WilcoxImpatience - Ella Wheeler WilcoxWhen On The Lip The Sigh Delays - Thomas MooreThe Family - Bayard TaylorIndividuality - Ella Wheeler WilcoxAnnie Of Tharaw - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowA Red, Red Rose - Robert BurnsLove's Philosophy - Percy Bysshe ShelleyWhat We Need - Ella Wheeler WilcoxMadeline - Henry TimrodLost At Sea - Thomas Bailey AldrichThe Salt Sea-Wind - Ella Wheeler WilcoxDelilah - Ella Wheeler WilcoxSilent Love - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow