In The Harbour: The City And The Sea

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)



The panting City cried to the Sea,
'I am faint with heat,--O breathe on me!'

And the Sea said, 'Lo, I breathe! but my breath
To some will be life, to others death!'

As to Prometheus, bringing ease
In pain, come the Oceanides,

So to the City, hot with the flame
Of the pitiless sun, the east wind came.

It came from the heaving breast of the deep,
Silent as dreams are, and sudden as sleep.

Life-giving, death-giving, which will it be;
O breath of the merciful, merciless Sea?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

27 sec read
335

Quick analysis:

Scheme AA BB XA CC DD AA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 477
Words 94
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. more…

All Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poems | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Books

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