The Chamber over the Gate
An old man in a chamber over a city gate mourns his dead son Absalom. The speaker connects his lament with bereavement across the ages, finding little comfort in shared grief and repeating the wish to have died in the son's place.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Elegiac Poetry, Meditative Poetry · 423 words
First lines
Is it so far from thee / Thou canst no longer see, / In the Chamber over the Gate, / That old man desolate, / Weeping and wailing sore / For his son, who is no more? / O Absalom, my son!
Is it so long ago / That cry of human woe / From the walled city came, / Calling on his dear name, / That it has died away / In the distance of to-day? / O Absalom, my son!
Genres
- Elegiac Poetry — Each stanza repeats the father's cry for Absalom, while the closing stanza voices his wish to have died in his son's place.
- Meditative Poetry — The speaker considers how the father's lament crosses time and distance and why the knowledge of common grief brings little relief.
Tags
parental grief · bereavement · lament · death of a son
What this Textopian page supports
The Chamber over the Gate 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: Elegiac Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 423 words
- Structure: 1 section, 7 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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