Excelsior by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A youth carrying a banner passes through an Alpine village at night and continues upward despite warnings of danger and a maiden’s invitation to rest. At dawn, a hound finds him half-buried in snow, still holding the banner. He lies lifeless as a voice from the sky repeats his cry.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Ballad · 411 words
First lines
The shades of night were falling fast, / As through an Alpine village passed / A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice, / A banner with the strange device, / Excelsior!
His brow was sad; his eye beneath, / Flashed like a falchion from its sheath, / And like a silver clarion rung / The accents of that unknown tongue, / Excelsior!
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — Nine verse stanzas follow a youth’s nighttime ascent, the warnings he receives, and the discovery of his lifeless body.
- Ballad — Rhyming stanzas, brief exchanges with villagers, and a recurring final cry carry the story toward its fatal ending.
Tags
mountain ascent · snow · warnings · perseverance · death
What this Textopian page supports
Excelsior 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: Narrative Poetry, Ballad
- Length: 411 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Excelsior by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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