The Warden of the Cinque Ports
At autumn dawn, the forts of the Cinque Ports exchange cannon salutes while watching for French war-steamers. Their aged Warden, a Field Marshal, has died during the night, with Death personified as an armored warrior entering his chamber. England mourns, but the bright morning gives no outward sign of his death.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Elegy, Narrative Poetry · 475 words
First lines
A mist was driving down the British Channel, / The day was just begun, / And through the window-panes, on floor and panel, / Streamed the red autumn sun.
It glanced on flowing flag and rippling pennon, / And the white sails of ships; / And, from the frowning rampart, the black cannon / Hailed it with feverish lips.
Genres
- Elegy — The verses mourn the aged Warden's death, declaring that he will never return to his coastal post and describing England's grief.
- Narrative Poetry — Rhymed four-line stanzas recount the forts' morning salutes and reveal the Warden's death through a personified warrior's nighttime arrival.
Tags
mourning · death · coastal defenses · cannon salutes · personification · dawn
What this Textopian page supports
The Warden of the Cinque Ports 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: Elegy, Narrative Poetry
- Length: 475 words
- Structure: 1 section, 12 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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