Chimes by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Hearing chimes mark the passing hour at night, the speaker imagines the constellations moving and almost hears them sing. The speaker prefers wakefulness to sleep, picturing the slumbering world sinking like a ship beneath the vast starry sky.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Sonnet, Lyric Poetry, Meditative Poetry · 158 words
First lines
Sweet chimes! that in the loneliness of night / Salute the passing hour, and in the dark / And silent chambers of the household mark / The movements of the myriad orbs of light! / Through my closed eyelids, by the inner sight, / I see the constellations in the arc / Of their great circles moving on, and hark! / I almost hear them singing in their flight. / Better than sleep it is to lie awake / O'er-canopied by the vast starry dome / Of the immeasurable sky; to feel / The slumbering world sink under us, and make / Hardly an eddy, -- a mere rush of foam / On the great sea beneath a sinking keel.
Genres
- Sonnet — Fourteen rhymed lines turn from hearing chimes and imagining constellations to reflecting on wakefulness beneath the sky.
- Lyric Poetry — A first-person speaker addresses the chimes and describes inward visions experienced with closed eyelids.
- Meditative Poetry — The speaker considers why lying awake surpasses sleep and imagines the world's smallness beneath the stars.
Tags
night · constellations · wakefulness · sonnet
What this Textopian page supports
Chimes 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: Sonnet, Lyric Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 158 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Chimes by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph