Sir Humphrey Gilbert
Sir Humphrey Gilbert sails eastward from Campobello until the land-wind fails, then reassures others that heaven is as near at sea as on land. A fleet of ice, portrayed as Death's ships, surrounds and seizes his vessel; they drift southward together and sink in the Gulf Stream.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Ballad, Maritime Literature · 390 words
First lines
Southward with fleet of ice / Sailed the corsair Death; / Wild and fast blew the blast, / And the east-wind was his breath.
His lordly ships of ice / Glisten in the sun; / On each side, like pennons wide, / Flashing crystal streamlets run.
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — Eleven stanzas follow Gilbert's departure, reassurance on deck, encounter with ice, and sinking.
- Ballad — Rhyming four-line stanzas, repeated phrases, and brief direct speech recount a fatal voyage.
- Maritime Literature — Sea winds, ice, shipboard watches, ground-swell, and the Gulf Stream govern the vessel's fate.
Tags
sea voyages · shipwreck · sea ice · personification of death · religious faith · ballad
What this Textopian page supports
Sir Humphrey Gilbert 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: Narrative Poetry, Ballad, Maritime Literature
- Length: 390 words
- Structure: 1 section, 11 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for Sir Humphrey Gilbert by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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