The Burial of the Poet
The speaker recalls burying Richard Henry Dana in an ancestral tomb in his native town's churchyard as snow fell. The poem then turns to moonlit snow marked by cross-shaped tree shadows, comparing these with chapters of the Koran on Saladin's winding-sheet.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Elegy, Sonnet · 172 words
First lines
Richard Henry Dana
In the old churchyard of his native town, / And in the ancestral tomb beside the wall, / We laid him in the sleep that comes to all, / And left him to his rest and his renown. / The snow was falling, as if Heaven dropped down / White flowers of Paradise to strew his pall; -- / The dead around him seemed to wake, and call / His name, as worthy of so white a crown. / And now the moon is shining on the scene, / And the broad sheet of snow is written o'er / With shadows cruciform of leafless trees, / As once the winding-sheet of Saladin / With chapters of the Koran; but, ah! more / Mysterious and triumphant signs are these.
Genres
- Elegy — The speaker commemorates a poet's burial, describing his rest, renown, and snow-covered grave.
- Sonnet — Fourteen rhymed lines turn from the burial during snowfall to the moonlit churchyard and its cross-shaped shadows.
Tags
burial · mourning · snow · moonlight · religious imagery · sonnet
What this Textopian page supports
The Burial of the Poet 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: Elegy, Sonnet
- Length: 172 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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