Venice by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The speaker addresses Venice through comparisons to a white swan, a water-lily, and a phantom city, describing its lagoon, sunlit spires, and river streets. The speaker waits to see it vanish like a mirage or towers of cloud.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Sonnet, Descriptive Poetry · 153 words
First lines
White swan of cities, slumbering in thy nest / So wonderfully built among the reeds / Of the lagoon, that fences thee and feeds, / As sayeth thy old historian and thy guest! / White water-lily, cradled and caressed / By ocean streams, and from the silt and weeds / Lifting thy golden filaments and seeds, / Thy sun-illumined spires, thy crown and crest! / White phantom city, whose untrodden streets / Are rivers, and whose pavements are the shifting / Shadows of palaces and strips of sky; / I wait to see thee vanish like the fleets / Seen in mirage, or towers of cloud uplifting / In air their unsubstantial masonry.
Genres
- Sonnet — Fourteen rhymed lines turn from comparisons with a swan and water-lily to a phantom city that the speaker expects to vanish.
- Descriptive Poetry — The verse describes lagoon reeds, sunlit spires, river streets, and palace shadows reflected on water.
Tags
lagoons · canals · palaces · cityscape · mirages · sonnet
What this Textopian page supports
Venice 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: Sonnet, Descriptive Poetry
- Length: 153 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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