Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Quotes
- Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year. - View Quote Details on Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride… - Time has laid his hand
Upon my heart, gently, not smiting it,
But as a harper lays his open palm
Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations. - View Quote Details on Time has laid his hand
Upon my heart, gently, not smiting… - There’s nothing in this world so sweet as love, and next to love the sweetest thing is hate. - View Quote Details on There’s nothing in this world so sweet as love, and…
- Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time. - View Quote Details on Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our… - Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee,
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o’er our fears,
Are all with thee,—are all with thee! - View Quote Details on Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee,
Our hearts, our… - Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art is of ending;
Many a poem is marred by a superfluous verse. - View Quote Details on Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art… - And see! she stirs!
She starts,—she moves,—she seems to feel
The thrill of life along her keel,
And, spurning with her foot the ground,
With one exulting, joyous bound,
She leaps into the ocean’s arms! - View Quote Details on And see! she stirs!
She starts,—she moves,—she seems to feel
The thrill… - Saint Augustine! well hast thou said,
That of our vices we can frame
A ladder, if we will but tread
Beneath our feet each deed of shame! - View Quote Details on Saint Augustine! well hast thou said,
That of our vices we… - I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet. - View Quote Details on I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little… - This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,
Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms. - View Quote Details on This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the… - If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. - View Quote Details on If we could read the secret history of our enemies,…
- And suddenly through the drifting brume
The blare of the horns began to ring. - View Quote Details on And suddenly through the drifting brume
The blare of the horns… - Let him not boast who puts his armor on
As he who puts it off, the battle done.
Study yourselves; and most of all note well
Wherein kind Nature meant you to excel.
Not every blossom ripens into fruit. - View Quote Details on Let him not boast who puts his armor on
As he… - There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid. - View Quote Details on There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in… - Sometimes we may learn more from a man’s errors than from his virtues. - View Quote Details on Sometimes we may learn more from a man’s errors than…
- And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night. - View Quote Details on And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of… - When she had passed, it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite music. - View Quote Details on When she had passed, it seemed like the ceasing of…
- We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done. - View Quote Details on We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing,…
- Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul. - View Quote Details on Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not… - I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where. - View Quote Details on I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth,… - Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing,
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;
So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence. - View Quote Details on Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other… - Look not mournfully into the Past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the Present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy Future, without fear, and with a manly heart. - View Quote Details on Look not mournfully into the Past. It comes not back…
- It was the schooner Hesperus,
That sailed the wintry sea;
And the skipper had taken his little daughter,
To bear him company. - View Quote Details on It was the schooner Hesperus,
That sailed the wintry sea;
And the… - And now, my classmates; ye remaining few
That number not the half of those we knew,
Ye, against whose familiar names not yet
The fatal asterisk of death is set,
Ye I salute! - View Quote Details on And now, my classmates; ye remaining few
That number not the… - Never here, forever there,
Where all parting, pain, and care,
And death, and time shall disappear,—
Forever there, but never here!
The horologe of Eternity
Sayeth this incessantly,—
“Forever–never!
Never–forever!” - View Quote Details on Never here, forever there,
Where all parting, pain, and care,
And death,… - But as he warmed and glowed, in his simple and eloquent language,
Quite forgetful of self, and full of the praise of his rival,
Archly the maiden smiled, and, with eyes over-running with laughter,
Said, in a tremulous voice, “Why don’t you speak for yourself, John? - View Quote Details on But as he warmed and glowed, in his simple and… - Such was the wreck of the Hesperus,
In the midnight and the snow!
Christ save us all from a death like this,
On the reef of Norman’s Woe! - View Quote Details on Such was the wreck of the Hesperus,
In the midnight and… - The trees are white with dust, that o’er their sleep
Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind’s breath,
While underneath such leafy tents they keep
The long, mysterious Exodus of Death. - View Quote Details on The trees are white with dust, that o’er their sleep
Wave… - Trust no future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, act in the living present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead! - View Quote Details on Trust no future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its… - Music is the universal language of mankind — poetry their universal pastime and delight. - View Quote Details on Music is the universal language of mankind — poetry their…
- In the long, sleepless watches of the night,
A gentle face — the face of one long dead —
Looks at me from the wall, where round its head
The night-lamp casts a halo of pale light. - View Quote Details on In the long, sleepless watches of the night,
A gentle face… - The scholar and the world! The endless strife,
The discord in the harmonies of life!
The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books;
The market-place, the eager love of gain,
Whose aim is vanity, and whose end is pain! - View Quote Details on The scholar and the world! The endless strife,
The discord in… - Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate! - View Quote Details on Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O… - Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change
To something new, to something strange;
Nothing that is can pause or stay;
The moon will wax, the moon will wane,
The mist and cloud will turn to rain,
The rain to mist and cloud again,
To-morrow be to-day. - View Quote Details on Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change
To something new,… - Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day’s occupation,
That is known as the Children’s Hour. - View Quote Details on Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning… - Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day. - View Quote Details on Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That… - Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start. - View Quote Details on Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As… - Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands. - View Quote Details on Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty… - A Lady with a Lamp shall stand
In the great history of the land,
A noble type of good,
Heroic womanhood. - View Quote Details on A Lady with a Lamp shall stand
In the great history… - O Bells of San Blas in vain
Ye call back the Past again;
The Past is deaf to your prayer!
Out of the shadows of night
The world rolls into light;
It is daybreak everywhere. - View Quote Details on O Bells of San Blas in vain
Ye call back the… - Nothing useless is, or low;
Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest. - View Quote Details on Nothing useless is, or low;
Each thing in its place is… - The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight. - View Quote Details on The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings… - Let us, then, be up and doing.
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait. - View Quote Details on Let us, then, be up and doing.
With a heart for… - Build me straight, O worthy Master!
Stanch and strong, a goodly vessel,
That shall laugh at all disaster,
And with wave and whirlwind wrestle! - View Quote Details on Build me straight, O worthy Master!
Stanch and strong, a goodly… - By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis. - View Quote Details on By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the… - But the great Master said, “I see
No best in kind, but in degree;
I gave a various gift to each,
To charm, to strengthen, and to teach. - View Quote Details on No best in kind,...">But the great Master said, “I see
No best in kind,…
About Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (27 February 1807 – 24 March 1882 ) was an American poet and one of the five members of the group known as the Fireside Poets.
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