Drinking Song by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The speaker invites an old friend to listen to water in an antique pitcher, describes its Bacchic figures, and contrasts Bacchus's vigor with Silenus's excess. Citing poets who praised wine without drinking it, the speaker urges filling the pitcher with water.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Didactic Poetry, Mythological Poetry · 440 words
First lines
Inscription for an Antique Pitcher
Come, old friend! sit down and listen! / From the pitcher, placed between us, / How the waters laugh and glisten / In the head of old Silenus!
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Rhymed quatrains address an old friend, with the closing stanza returning to the opening invitation and the sound of water.
- Didactic Poetry — The speaker distinguishes vigor from excess, locates perpetual youth in fountains rather than wine stores, and recommends water.
- Mythological Poetry — The pitcher's figures include Silenus, Bacchus, Satyrs, Fauns, and Bacchantes, whose revels lead into the argument against excess.
Tags
water · temperance · antique pitchers · classical mythology · wine
What this Textopian page supports
Drinking Song 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, Didactic Poetry, Mythological Poetry
- Length: 440 words
- Structure: 1 section, 13 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Drinking Song 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