Santa Filomena by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Reading at night about dead and wounded soldiers, the speaker pictures a woman carrying a lamp through hospital rooms as a sufferer kisses her shadow. The speaker predicts that England will remember her as an example of heroic womanhood and associates her with Saint Filomena's symbols.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Poetry, Tribute, War Poetry · 382 words
First lines
Whene'er a noble deed is wrought, / Whene'er is spoken a noble thought, / Our hearts, in glad surprise, / To higher levels rise.
The tidal wave of deeper souls / Into our inmost being rolls, / And lifts us unawares / Out of all meaner cares.
Genres
- Poetry — Eleven rhyming quatrains connect noble deeds with a lamp-bearing woman's passage through a hospital.
- Tribute — The speaker honors the woman whose presence comforts a wounded sufferer and predicts her enduring remembrance.
- War Poetry — Dead soldiers, cold trenches, a starving camp, and wounded men in hospitals frame the woman's appearance.
Tags
wounded soldiers · hospitals · lamplight · compassion · heroic womanhood · remembrance
What this Textopian page supports
Santa Filomena 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: Poetry, Tribute, War Poetry
- Length: 382 words
- Structure: 1 section, 11 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Santa Filomena by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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