The Skeleton in Armor
An armored apparition commands the speaker to put his forgotten Viking life into verse. He recalls raiding, loving a prince's daughter, fleeing with her after her father rejects his suit, and sinking the pursuing ship before sailing west to a shore where he builds her a tower. After years together, she dies; he kills himself with his spear and recounts his soul's ascent to the stars.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Ballad, Supernatural · 1,337 words
First lines
"Speak! speak I thou fearful guest / Who, with thy hollow breast / Still in rude armor drest, / Comest to daunt me! / Wrapt not in Eastern balms, / Bat with thy fleshless palms / Stretched, as if asking alms, / Why dost thou haunt me?"
Then, from those cavernous eyes / Pale flashes seemed to rise, / As when the Northern skies / Gleam in December; / And, like the water's flow / Under December's snow, / Came a dull voice of woe / From the heart's chamber.
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — Rhymed stanzas carry the Viking's account from childhood and sea raids through courtship, flight, bereavement, and death.
- Ballad — Regular eight-line stanzas tell of a rejected marriage suit, flight by sea, maritime pursuit, and a speaking apparition.
- Supernatural — An armored dead man speaks to the listener, threatens a curse, and describes his soul's existence after death.
Tags
Vikings · ghosts · sea voyages · elopement · naval pursuit · bereavement · suicide
What this Textopian page supports
The Skeleton in Armor 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, Ballad, Supernatural
- Length: 1,337 words
- Structure: 1 section, 20 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Skeleton in Armor by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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