The Broken Oar by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A poet wanders Iceland’s shore seeking words to close his book. When the waves toss a broken oar at his feet, he copies its carved words about weariness and toil, then throws his pen into the sea.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Sonnet, Narrative Poetry, Metapoetry · 169 words
First lines
Once upon Iceland's solitary strand / A poet wandered with his book and pen, / Seeking some final word, some sweet Amen, / Wherewith to close the volume in his hand. / The billows rolled and plunged upon the sand, / The circling sea-gulls swept beyond his ken, / And from the parting cloud-rack now and then / Flashed the red sunset over sea and land. / Then by the billows at his feet was tossed / A broken oar; and carved thereon he read, / "Oft was I weary, when I toiled at thee"; / And like a man, who findeth what was lost, / He wrote the words, then lifted up his head, / And flung his useless pen into the sea.
Genres
- Sonnet — Fourteen lines follow an ABBA ABBA CDE CDE rhyme scheme, turning from the poet’s search to the discovery of the oar.
- Narrative Poetry — The verse recounts a poet’s walk, his discovery of an inscription, and his decision to copy it and discard his pen.
- Metapoetry — A poet’s search for words to finish his book ends when he adopts an inscription found on a broken oar.
Tags
sonnet · poetic composition · Iceland · seashore · inscriptions · weariness
What this Textopian page supports
The Broken Oar 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: Sonnet, Narrative Poetry, Metapoetry
- Length: 169 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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