Morituri Salutamus by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
At the fiftieth anniversary of Bowdoin College's class of 1825, a speaker honors former teachers, welcomes current students, and greets surviving classmates while remembering those who have died. He recounts a medieval legend in which a scholar's theft of gold brings death, then explains its warning against abandoning learning for wealth. Acknowledging the weakness of old age, he urges his classmates to undertake the work still within their reach.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Reflective Poetry, Didactic Poetry · 3,402 words
First lines
POEM FOR THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CLASS OF 1825 / IN BOWDOIN COLLEGE
Tempora labuntur, tacitisque senescimus annis, / Et fugiunt freno non remorante dies. -- OVID, Fastorum, Lib. vi.
Genres
- Reflective Poetry — The speaker's rhyming couplets move from memories of college and absent classmates to reflection on fifty years of life and the limitations of age.
- Didactic Poetry — The speaker advises students to recognize their abilities, explains a legend's warning against avarice, and urges older classmates to continue working.
Tags
college reunions · old age · remembrance · mortality · learning · avarice · work
What this Textopian page supports
Morituri Salutamus is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Reflective Poetry, Didactic Poetry
- Length: 3,402 words
- Structure: 1 section, 27 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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