The Beleaguered City
The speaker recounts a legend of a spectral army besieging Prague at midnight and fleeing when the cathedral bell announces morning prayer. The siege becomes a parallel to fears surrounding the human soul, which prayer and faith dispel.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Allegorical Poetry, Religious Poetry · 430 words
First lines
I have read, in some old, marvellous tale, / Some legend strange and vague, / That a midnight host of spectres pale / Beleaguered the walls of Prague.
Beside the Moldau's rushing stream, / With the wan moon overhead, / There stood, as in an awful dream, / The army of the dead.
Genres
- Allegorical Poetry — The spectral army besieging Prague becomes a parallel siege of the soul, with the closing stanza identifying the phantoms as fears.
- Religious Poetry — The church bell calls the soul to prayer, and faith appears as the morning star that accompanies the disappearance of fear.
Tags
fear · faith · prayer · spectres · allegory
What this Textopian page supports
The Beleaguered City 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: Allegorical Poetry, Religious Poetry
- Length: 430 words
- Structure: 1 section, 12 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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