American poet (1807-1882)
Down to the Plymouth Rock, that had been to their feet as a doorstep
Into a world unknown -- the cornerstone of a nation!
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
"The Courtship of Miles Standish"
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs,
and silently steal away.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
"The Day Is Done"
Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Table-Talk
Sorrow and silence are strong, and patient endurance is godlike.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Evangeline
Truths that startled the generation in which they were first announced become in the next age the commonplaces of conversation; as the famous airs of operas which thrilled the first audiences come to be played on hand-organs in the streets.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Table-Talk
The first pressure of sorrow crushes out from our hearts the best wine; afterwards the constant weight of it brings forth bitterness, -- the taste and stain from the lees of the vat.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Table-Talk
There in seclusion and remote from men
The wizard hand lies cold,
Which at its topmost speed let fall the pen,
And left the tale half told.
Ah! who shall lift that wand of magic power,
And the lost clew regain?
The unfinished window in Aladdin's tower
Unfinished must remain!
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
"Hawthorne"
Ah! vainest of all things
Is the gratitude of kings.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Belisarius
Silence is a great peacemaker.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Table-Talk
Every man is in some sort a failure to himself. No one ever reaches the heights to which he aspires.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Table-Talk
The architect
Built his great heart into these sculptured stones,
And with him toiled his children, and their lives
Were builded, with his own, into the walls,
As offerings unto God.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Christus: The Golden Legend
The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
"Morituri Salutamus", Poems and Other Writings
The men that women marry,
And why they marry them, will always be
A marvel and a mystery to the world.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
"Michael Angelo"
I know not how it is, but during a voyage I collect books as a ship does barnacles.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
letter to Charles Sumner, September 17, 1842
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.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
"A Psalm of Life"
Youth, hope, and love:
To build a new life on a ruined life,
To make the future fairer than the past,
And make the past appear a troubled dream.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
The Masque of Pandora
All your strength is in your union.
All your danger is in discord;
Therefore be at peace henceforward,
And as brothers live together.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
"The Song of Hiawatha"
I cannot believe any man can be perfectly well in body, who has much labor of the mind to perform.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
letter to Stephen Longfellow, September 17, 1842
I promise myself great pleasure from my visit to England. You know I am to stay with Dickens while in London; and beside his own very agreeable society, I shall enjoy that of the most noted literary men of the day, which will be a great gratification to me.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
letter to Stephen Longfellow, September 17, 1842
Each day is a branch of the Tree of Life laden heavily with fruit. If we lie down lazily beneath it, we may starve; but if we shake the branches, some of the fruit will fall for us.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Table-Talk