Songo River by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A slow, winding river links lakes through woods, reflecting thickets and sky as birds fly above its waters. The speaker imagines its silence counselling a hurried traveller to rest, abandon inconsiderate haste, and connect with others through quiet self-control.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Nature Poetry, Meditative Poetry, Didactic Poetry · 362 words
First lines
Nowhere such a devious stream, / Save in fancy or in dream, / Winding slow through bush and brake / Links together lake and lake.
Walled with woods or sandy shelf, / Ever doubling on itself / Flows the stream, so still and slow / That it hardly seems to flow.
Genres
- Nature Poetry — Rhyming quatrains describe a winding river, wooded banks, reflected skies, swallows and a loon.
- Meditative Poetry — The speaker reads the river's slow, silent movement as a lesson in balance and self-control.
- Didactic Poetry — The imagined address to the traveller explicitly urges rest, restraint and connection with others.
Tags
rivers · woodlands · water reflections · birds · rest · self-control · haste
What this Textopian page supports
Songo River 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: Nature Poetry, Meditative Poetry, Didactic Poetry
- Length: 362 words
- Structure: 1 section, 11 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Songo River by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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