A Gleam of Sunshine
The speaker stops a steed to recall walking to church with a gentle friend, remembering the trees, the choir, the sunlight, and thoughts of the friend during the sermon and prayer. The friend is now absent, but the memory brightens the past amid the speaker’s sorrow.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Nostalgic Poetry · 510 words
First lines
This is the place. Stand still, my steed, / Let me review the scene, / And summon from the shadowy Past / The forms that once have been.
The Past and Present here unite / Beneath Time's flowing tide, / Like footprints hidden by a brook, / But seen on either side.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Four-line stanzas address an absent friend directly and express the speaker’s sorrow and comfort in a remembered church visit.
- Nostalgic Poetry — The speaker revisits a familiar place, recalls a shared Sabbath morning, and contrasts its remembered sunshine with the friend’s present absence.
Tags
memory · friendship · absence · church · Sabbath · sunlight
What this Textopian page supports
A Gleam of Sunshine is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Nostalgic Poetry
- Length: 510 words
- Structure: 1 section, 14 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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