The Secret of the Sea
Gazing at the sea, the speaker recalls a Spanish ballad in which Count Arnaldos asks a helmsman to teach him a wondrous song. The helmsman answers that only those who brave the sea's dangers comprehend its mystery, and the speaker feels a similar longing for its secret.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Maritime Literature · 375 words
First lines
Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me / As I gaze upon the sea! / All the old romantic legends, / All my dreams, come back to me.
Sails of silk and ropes of sandal, / Such as gleam in ancient lore; / And the singing of the sailors, / And the answer from the shore!
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The speaker's recollections and longing unfold in ten rhymed quatrains, ending with the ocean's pulse felt within.
- Maritime Literature — A galley, a helmsman's song, sails and sea breezes sustain the speaker's desire to comprehend the ocean's mystery.
Tags
sea · longing · Spanish ballads · sailors · song · maritime legends
What this Textopian page supports
The Secret of the Sea 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: Lyric Poetry, Maritime Literature
- Length: 375 words
- Structure: 1 section, 10 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Secret of the Sea 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