The Occultation of Orion
The speaker sees night rise on Time's scales and hears a heavenly lyre sounding through the celestial spheres. In this dreamlike vision, the moon reaches the personified hunter Orion, who drops his lion skin and reels; an angel then announces the end of violence.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Allegorical Poetry · 747 words
First lines
I saw, as in a dream sublime, / The balance in the hand of Time. / O'er East and West its beam impended; / And day, with all its hours of light, / Was slowly sinking out of sight, / While, opposite, the scale of night / Silently with the stars ascended.
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — Rhymed verses follow a speaker's celestial vision from nightfall through the moon's encounter with Orion to an angel's proclamation.
- Allegorical Poetry — The moon's advance disarms the personified celestial hunter, and an angel interprets the scene by announcing that violence has ended.
Tags
moon · constellations · celestial music · angels · nonviolence
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The Occultation of Orion is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Narrative Poetry, Allegorical Poetry
- Length: 747 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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