The Children of the Lord's Supper
On Pentecost, young people gather in a decorated village church, answer the catechism, and promise to love God and their neighbors. Their seventy-year-old pastor urges prayer, forgiveness, and fidelity to their vows, describing death as release into God's care. Reflecting that he or one of them might die before the following Sunday's appointed Communion, he administers it immediately, then embraces and blesses them.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Religious Poetry, Didactic Poetry · 5,918 words
First lines
By Esaias Tegnér
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — The verse follows a village congregation through worship, the children's confession of faith, Communion, and their pastor's final blessings.
- Religious Poetry — Christian vows and Communion form the central action, while the pastor speaks of Christ's atonement, forgiveness, and eternal life.
- Didactic Poetry — The pastor instructs the young through catechism and extended exhortations to pray, forgive others, and express faith through their conduct.
Tags
Pentecost · confirmation · Holy Communion · Christian faith · forgiveness · pastoral instruction
What this Textopian page supports
The Children of the Lord's Supper 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: Narrative Poetry, Religious Poetry, Didactic Poetry
- Length: 5,918 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Children of the Lord's Supper by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph