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The poetical works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Public domain text

255,527 words · about 17 h 54 min to read

Period artwork: Interior of the Bodleian Library, 1845

Text only · 36 illustrations omitted. Illustrated source.

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About this edition

The text of The poetical works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow comes from Project Gutenberg e-text #78406. It is in English and public domain in the United States. Project Gutenberg’s header and license text are removed, and RedLectern sets the text out for reading on screen; no words of the book are rewritten or summarized. More formats (EPUB, Kindle) · How RedLectern is built

This book also contains the text of these books, each also on RedLectern as a separate book: Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie, The Song of Hiawatha.

This text-only edition leaves out 36 illustrations. See the illustrated edition at Project Gutenberg.

This book is long enough to be split into 11 parts, so each one loads quickly on its own.

Contents (101)
  1. Opening about 46 min
  2. AN APRIL DAY about 2 min
  3. SUNRISE ON THE HILLS about 1 min
  4. WOODS IN WINTER about 1 min
  5. HYMN OF THE MORAVIAN NUNS OF BETHLEHEM about 1 min
  6. BURIAL OF THE MINNISINK about 1 min
  7. THE SPIRIT OF POETRY about 5 min
  8. HYMN TO THE NIGHT about 1 min
  9. A PSALM OF LIFE about 1 min
  10. FOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS about 1 min
  11. THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS about 1 min
  12. THE LIGHT OF STARS about 1 min
  13. FLOWERS about 2 min
  14. THE BELEAGUERED CITY about 1 min
  15. MIDNIGHT MASS FOR THE DYING YEAR about 2 min
  16. THE SKELETON IN ARMOUR about 5 min
  17. THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS about 3 min
  18. TO WILLIAM E. CHANNING under 1 min
  19. THE SLAVE’S DREAM about 1 min
  20. THE SLAVE IN THE DISMAL SWAMP about 1 min
  21. THE GOOD PART THAT SHALL NOT BE TAKEN AWAY about 1 min
  22. THE QUADROON GIRL about 1 min
  23. THE WITNESSES about 1 min
  24. THE WARNING about 1 min
  25. THE SLAVE SINGING AT MIDNIGHT about 1 min
  26. IT IS NOT ALWAYS MAY about 1 min
  27. THE RAINY DAY under 1 min
  28. THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH about 1 min
  29. ENDYMION about 1 min
  30. GOD’S-ACRE about 1 min
  31. TO THE RIVER CHARLES about 1 min
  32. BLIND BARTIMEUS about 1 min
  33. THE GOBLET OF LIFE about 1 min
  34. THE SEA-DIVER about 3 min
  35. THE BELFRY OF BRUGES about 3 min
  36. MAIDENHOOD about 1 min
  37. THE ARSENAL AT SPRINGFIELD about 2 min
  38. A GLEAM OF SUNSHINE about 1 min
  39. NUREMBERG about 3 min
  40. THE INDIAN HUNTER about 1 min
  41. THE NORMAN BARON about 2 min
  42. TO A CHILD about 5 min
  43. THE OCCULTATION OF ORION about 2 min
  44. RAIN IN SUMMER about 2 min
  45. THE BRIDGE about 1 min
  46. EXCELSIOR about 1 min
  47. TO THE DRIVING CLOUD about 2 min
  48. CURFEW about 1 min
  49. TO AN OLD DANISH SONG-BOOK about 1 min
  50. THE ARROW AND THE SONG under 1 min
  51. WALTER VON DER VOGELWEID about 1 min
  52. THE DAY IS DONE about 1 min
  53. SEA-WEED about 1 min
  54. DRINKING SONG about 1 min
  55. THE OLD CLOCK ON THE STAIRS about 2 min
  56. AFTERNOON IN FEBRUARY under 1 min
  57. The Spanish Student under 1 min
  58. Dramatis Personæ under 1 min
  59. Act I about 6 min
  60. Act I, Scene III — PRECIOSA’S Chamber. She stands at the open window. about 6 min
  61. Act I, Scene IV — An inn on the road to Alcalá. BALTASAR asleep on a bench. Enter CHISPA about 2 min
  62. Act I, Scene V — VICTORIAN’S Chambers at Alcalá. HYPOLITO asleep in an arm-chair. He awakes slowly. about 7 min
  63. Act II, Scene I — PRECIOSA’S Chamber. Morning. PRECIOSA and ANGELICA about 5 min
  64. Act II, Scene II — A room in the Archbishop’s palace. The ARCHBISHOP and a CARDINAL seated. about 13 min
  65. Act II, Scene V — The COUNT OF LARA’S rooms. Enter the COUNT about 1 min
  66. Act II, Scene VI — A retired spot beyond the city gates. Enter VICTORIAN and HYPOLITO about 3 min
  67. Act II, Scene VII — A lane in the suburbs. Night. Enter CRUZADO and BARTOLOMÉ about 1 min
  68. Act II, Scene IX — The COUNT OF LARA’S chambers. LARA and his friends at supper about 1 min
  69. Act II, Scene X — Street and garden wall. Night. Enter CRUZADO and BARTOLOMÉ about 2 min
  70. Act III about 7 min
  71. Act III, Scene III — A room in the PADRE CURA’S house. Enter the PADRE and HYPOLITO about 1 h 26 min
  72. Dedication about 1 min
  73. THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP about 11 min
  74. TWILIGHT about 1 min
  75. THE FIRE OF DRIFT-WOOD about 1 min
  76. THE LIGHTHOUSE about 2 min
  77. SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT about 1 min
  78. THE SECRET OF THE SEA about 1 min
  79. RESIGNATION about 1 min
  80. THE BUILDERS about 1 min
  81. SAND OF THE DESERT IN AN HOUR-GLASS about 1 min
  82. PEGASUS IN POUND about 1 min
  83. KING WITLAF’S DRINKING-HORN about 1 min
  84. TEGNER’S DRAPA about 1 min
  85. THE SINGERS about 1 min
  86. SUSPIRIA under 1 min
  87. THE OPEN WINDOW about 1 min
  88. HYMN about 3 min
  89. Prologue about 1 h 1 min
  90. Epilogue about 58 min
  91. Epilogue about 2 min
  92. MARTIN LUTHER about 5 min
  93. ST. JOHN about 2 min
  94. Introduction about 2 h 11 min
  95. The Courtship of Miles Standish about 50 min
  96. DAY THE FIRST about 1 h 25 min
  97. CLOSE OF FIRST DAY about 3 h 46 min
  98. Canto XXIII about 6 min
  99. Canto XXIV about 6 min
  100. Canto XXV about 6 min
  101. XXIV. 42 about 2 h 23 min

The opening of AN APRIL DAY

When the warm sun, that brings
Seed-time and harvest, has returned again,
’Tis sweet to visit the still wood, where springs
The first flower of the plain.

I love the season well,
When forest glades are teeming with bright forms,
Nor dark and many-folded clouds foretell
The coming-on of storms.

From the earth’s loosened mould
The sapling draws its sustenance, and thrives;
Though stricken to the heart with Winter’s cold,
The drooping tree revives.

The softly-warbled song
Comes from the pleasant woods, and coloured wings
Glance quick in the bright sun, that moves along
The forest openings.

When the bright sunset fills
The silver woods with light, the green slope throws
Its shadows in the hollows of the hills,
And wide the upland glows.

Read on in Part 1 →