The Windmill by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A windmill describes grinding maize, wheat, and rye, watching the coming harvest, and facing the wind while its miller feeds it grain. On Sundays it rests with its arms crossed as church bells sound.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Poetry, Personification · 283 words
First lines
Behold! a giant am I! / Aloft here in my tower, / With my granite jaws I devour / The maize, and the wheat, and the rye, / And grind them into flour.
I look down over the farms; / In the fields of grain I see / The harvest that is to be, / And I fling to the air my arms, / For I know it is all for me.
I hear the sound of flails / Far off, from the threshing-floors / In barns, with their open doors, / And the wind, the wind in my sails, / Louder and louder roars.
I stand here in my place, / With my foot on the rock below, / And whichever way it may blow / I meet it face to face, / As a brave man meets his foe.
Genres
- Poetry — Six rhymed, five-line stanzas describe the windmill's work and Sunday rest.
- Personification — The windmill speaks in the first person, calling its grinding stones jaws and its sails arms.
Tags
windmills · grain milling · wind · harvest · Sunday rest · personification
What this Textopian page supports
The Windmill 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: Poetry, Personification
- Length: 283 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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