Weariness by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A weary speaker addresses little feet, hands, hearts, and souls, imagining the long years of burdens, work, and desire ahead of them. Nearer to rest after years of labor with book and pen, the speaker contrasts their ardor and purity with spent passions and a soul that now appears lurid.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Meditative Poetry · 244 words
First lines
O little feet! that such long years / Must wander on through hopes and fears, / Must ache and bleed beneath your load; / I, nearer to the wayside inn / Where toil shall cease and rest begin, / Am weary, thinking of your road!
O little hands! that, weak or strong, / Have still to serve or rule so long, / Have still so long to give or ask; / I, who so much with book and pen / Have toiled among my fellow-men, / Am weary, thinking of your task.
O little hearts! that throb and beat / With such impatient, feverish heat, / Such limitless and strong desires; / Mine that so long has glowed and burned, / With passions into ashes turned / Now covers and conceals its fires.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Four rhymed stanzas directly address little feet, hands, hearts, and souls through the speaker's personal feelings.
- Meditative Poetry — The speaker considers future burdens alongside past labor, exhausted passions, and the soul's altered appearance.
Tags
exhaustion · childhood · aging · writing · spiritual self-examination
What this Textopian page supports
Weariness 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: Lyric Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 244 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for Weariness by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
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