The Four Princesses at Wilna
The speaker addresses four princesses in a photograph, comparing their framed faces to figures leaning from a castle window and admiring their youth, beauty, and innocence. A street singer seems to declare love the greatest of faith, hope, and love.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Sonnet, Descriptive Poetry · 186 words
First lines
A Photograph
Sweet faces, that from pictured casements lean / As from a castle window, looking down / On some gay pageant passing through a town, / Yourselves the fairest figures in the scene; / With what a gentle grace, with what serene / Unconsciousness ye wear the triple crown / Of youth and beauty and the fair renown / Of a great name, that ne'er hath tarnished been! / From your soft eyes, so innocent and sweet, / Four spirits, sweet and innocent as they, / Gaze on the world below, the sky above; / Hark! there is some one singing in the street; / "Faith, Hope, and Love! these three," he seems to say; / "These three; and greatest of the three is Love. "
Genres
- Sonnet — Fourteen rhymed lines move from an address to the photographed figures to a closing declaration about love.
- Descriptive Poetry — The speaker describes the figures' faces, eyes, and expressions, comparing their picture frames to castle windows.
Tags
photographic portraits · princesses · youth · beauty · innocence · love · sonnet
What this Textopian page supports
The Four Princesses at Wilna 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: Sonnet, Descriptive Poetry
- Length: 186 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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