The Courtship of Miles Standish

In Plymouth, Miles Standish sends his friend John Alden to propose to Priscilla, unaware that Alden loves her. Priscilla refuses Standish and encourages Alden to speak for himself, provoking Standish's anger and leaving Alden torn between love and friendship. After a false report of Standish's death, Alden and Priscilla marry; Standish appears at the end of their wedding ceremony, asks forgiveness, and renews his friendship with Alden.

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Historical Romance · 9 chapters · 16,940 words

First lines

In the Old Colony days, in Plymouth the land of the Pilgrims, / To and fro in a room of his simple and primitive dwelling, / Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of Cordovan leather, / Strode, with a martial air, Miles Standish the Puritan Captain. / Buried in thought he seemed, with his hands behind him, and pausing / Ever and anon to behold his glittering weapons of warfare, / Hanging in shining array along the walls of the chamber, -- / Cutlass and corselet of steel, and his trusty sword of Damascus, / Curved at the point and inscribed with its mystical Arabic sentence, / While underneath, in a corner, were fowling-piece, musket, and matchlock. / Short of stature he was, but strongly built and athletic, / Broad in the shoulders, deep-chested, with muscles and sinews of iron; / Brown as a nut was his face, but his russet beard was already / Flaked with patches of snow, as hedges sometimes in November. / Near him was seated John Alden, his friend, and household companion, / Writing with diligent speed at a table of pine by the window; / Fair-haired, azure-eyed, with delicate Saxon complexion, / Having the dew of his youth, and the beauty thereof, as the captives / Whom Saint Gregory saw, and exclaimed, "Not Angles, but Angels. " / Youngest of all was he of the men who came in the Mayflower.

• Open reader

Genres

• Narrative Poetry — Continuous verse follows a delegated marriage proposal, a quarrel between friends, a military expedition, and a wedding that brings reconciliation.
• Historical Romance — Alden and Priscilla's courtship unfolds in the Pilgrim settlement at Plymouth amid the Mayflower's departure, colonial labor, and fighting with Indigenous warriors.

Tags

courtship · friendship · Pilgrims · Plymouth · marriage · military conflict

What this Textopian page supports

The Courtship of Miles Standish 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, Historical Romance
• Length: 16,940 words
• Structure: 9 chapters, 57 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Courtship of Miles Standish 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

Contents

• Miles Standish
• Love and Friendship
• The Lover's Errand
• John Alden
• The Sailing of the Mayflower
• Priscilla
• The March of Miles Standish
• The Spinning-Wheel
• The Wedding-Day

More by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

• Pleasant it was, when Woods were Green
• Hymn to the Night
• A Psalm of Life
• The Reaper and the Flowers
• The Light of Stars
• Footsteps of Angels
• Flowers
• The Beleaguered City
• All works by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow