Seaweed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
An equinoctial storm drives seaweed from scattered Atlantic shores and reefs until it settles in sheltered coves and on beaches. The poem compares this drifting seaweed to fragments of song stirred by emotional storms in a poet's soul and eventually preserved in books.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Metapoetry, Nature Poetry · 377 words
First lines
When descends on the Atlantic / The gigantic / Storm-wind of the equinox, / Landward in his wrath he scourges / The toiling surges, / Laden with seaweed from the rocks:
From Bermuda's reefs; from edges / Of sunken ledges, / In some far-off, bright Azore; / From Bahama, and the dashing, / Silver-flashing / Surges of San Salvador;
Genres
- Metapoetry — The closing stanzas compare the emergence of song fragments from a poet's emotional life to drifting seaweed, then describe their preservation in books.
- Nature Poetry — The opening stanzas follow seaweed through storm winds, surf and Atlantic currents to sheltered coves and sandy beaches.
Tags
Atlantic Ocean · storms · poetic composition · emotion · books
What this Textopian page supports
Seaweed 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: Metapoetry, Nature Poetry
- Length: 377 words
- Structure: 1 section, 8 paragraphs
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