Mad River by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In the White Mountains, a traveller asks a rushing river why it cannot rest and seeks to learn its song. The river recounts growing from a brook into a waterfall, carrying logs to mills, watering cattle, and bursting its banks to sweep away a bridge. It dismisses the traveller because the mills are waiting.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Nature Poetry, Dramatic Poetry · 590 words
First lines
In the White Mountains
TRAVELLER / Why dost thou wildly rush and roar, / Mad River, O Mad River? / Wilt thou not pause and cease to pour / Thy hurrying, headlong waters o'er / This rocky shelf forever?
Genres
- Nature Poetry — Rhymed stanzas follow a river through forests, fields, a waterfall, and flooded banks, connecting its current with rain, cattle, and birds.
- Dramatic Poetry — Alternating speeches stage a conversation between a traveller seeking a song and a river impatient to resume its work.
Tags
rivers · waterfalls · logging · mills · floods · personification
What this Textopian page supports
Mad River 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: Nature Poetry, Dramatic Poetry
- Length: 590 words
- Structure: 1 section, 13 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Mad River by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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