President Garfield by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The speaker recalls a poet's vision of fearless souls shining on a celestial cross in Paradise. A great soul's declaration of peace after martyrdom offers consolation amid suffering and suspense.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Sonnet, Religious Poetry, Elegiac Poetry · 167 words
First lines
"E venni dal martirio a questa pace."
These words the poet heard in Paradise, / Uttered by one who, bravely dying here, / In the true faith was living in that sphere / Where the celestial cross of sacrifice / Spread its protecting arms athwart the skies; / And set thereon, like jewels crystal clear, / The souls magnanimous, that knew not fear, / Flashed their effulgence on his dazzled eyes. / Ah me! how dark the discipline of pain, / Were not the suffering followed by the sense / Of infinite rest and infinite release! / This is our consolation; and again / A great soul cries to us in our suspense, / "I came from martyrdom unto this peace! "
Genres
- Sonnet — Fourteen rhymed lines turn from an eight-line vision of souls in Paradise to six lines reflecting on suffering and consolation.
- Religious Poetry — Souls shine on a celestial cross, and peace in Paradise follows faithful suffering and martyrdom.
- Elegiac Poetry — The tribute to President Garfield joins a lament over pain to consolation in a great soul's peace after martyrdom.
Tags
martyrdom · consolation · Paradise · suffering · sonnet
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President Garfield 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: Sonnet, Religious Poetry, Elegiac Poetry
- Length: 167 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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