Vittoria Colonna by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Returning to Inarime, the speaker pictures Vittoria Colonna on her castle terrace and recalls her grief for her dead husband. Her mourning finds voice in a lament, and her life receives light from unseen realms. The speaker declares that the memory of her love will outlast the castle.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Elegiac Poetry, Biographical Poetry · 455 words
First lines
VITTORIA COLONNA, on the death of her hushand, the Marchese di Pescara, retired to her castle at Ischia (Inarime), and there wrote the Ode upon his death, which gained her the title of Divine.
Once more, once more, Inarime, / I see thy purple hills! -- once more / I hear the billows of the bay / Wash the white pebbles on thy shore.
Genres
- Elegiac Poetry — The verses recount a widow's enduring grief, her song of lament, and the remembrance of her love after death.
- Biographical Poetry — The introductory note identifies Colonna's bereavement and retreat to Ischia, which the verses develop into a portrait of her mourning.
Tags
widowhood · mourning · marital devotion · lament · remembrance
What this Textopian page supports
Vittoria Colonna 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: Elegiac Poetry, Biographical Poetry
- Length: 455 words
- Structure: 1 section, 12 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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