To a Child by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A speaker watches a child enjoy nursery tiles and a rattle, seek freedom outdoors, play in the garden, and fall asleep. The rattle's distant origins and a former inhabitant's wartime cares prompt reflections that give way to hopes and fears for the child's future. The speaker offers counsel about rest after toil and sympathy for laborers, then refuses to predict the child's destiny.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Childhood Poetry, Didactic Poetry · 1,867 words
First lines
Dear child! how radiant on thy mother's knee, / With merry-making eyes and jocund smiles, / Thou gazest at the painted tiles, / Whose figures grace, / With many a grotesque form and face. / The ancient chimney of thy nursery! / The lady with the gay macaw, / The dancing girl, the grave bashaw / With bearded lip and chin; / And, leaning idly o'er his gate, / Beneath the imperial fan of state, / The Chinese mandarin.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — A sustained verse address to a child moves from affectionate observation to the speaker's hopes, fears, and refusal to foretell a destiny.
- Childhood Poetry — The child shakes a rattle, struggles to leave the nursery, plays among garden plants, and grows tired enough to sleep.
- Didactic Poetry — The speaker advises the child to seek rest after toil and, if fortunate, to comfort laborers and recognize beauty in useful work.
Tags
childhood · nursery · garden play · sleep · uncertain future · labor · sympathy
What this Textopian page supports
To a Child 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, Childhood Poetry, Didactic Poetry
- Length: 1,867 words
- Structure: 1 section, 11 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for To a Child by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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