Moods by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The speaker longs for a song from nature or the human heart to relieve a sluggish mood and restore vitality. Yet song comes unpredictably, like a wind whose origin and destination remain unknown.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Sonnet, Lyric Poetry, Metapoetry · 177 words
First lines
Oh that a Song would sing itself to me / Out of the heart of Nature, or the heart / Of man, the child of Nature, not of Art, / Fresh as the morning, salt as the salt sea, / With just enough of bitterness to be / A medicine to this sluggish mood, and start / The life-blood in my veins, and so impart / Healing and help in this dull lethargy! / Alas! not always doth the breath of song / Breathe on us. It is like the wind that bloweth / At its own will, not ours, nor tarries long; / We hear the sound thereof, but no man knoweth / From whence it comes, so sudden and swift and strong, / Nor whither in its wayward course it goeth.
Genres
- Sonnet — Fourteen rhymed lines turn from a wish for healing song to a reflection on its unpredictable arrival.
- Lyric Poetry — The speaker expresses a personal longing for relief from lethargy through song.
- Metapoetry — The speaker considers where song comes from and why its inspiration cannot be summoned at will.
Tags
poetic inspiration · lethargy · song · emotional healing · sonnet
What this Textopian page supports
Moods 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, Metapoetry
- Length: 177 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Moods 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