Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

To William E. Channing

The pages of thy book I read,
And as I closed each one,
My heart, responding, ever said,
"Servant of God! well done!"

Well done! Thy words are great and bold;
At times they seem to me,
Like Luther's, in the days of old,
Half-battles for the free.

Go on, until this land revokes
The old and chartered Lie,
The feudal curse, whose whips and yokes
Insult humanity.

A voice is ever at thy side
Speaking in tones of might,
Like the prophetic voice, that cried
To John in Patmos, "Write!"

Write! and tell out this bloody tale;
Record this dire eclipse,
This Day of Wrath, this Endless Wail,
This dread Apocalypse!

1. To the River Rhone
2. To the River Yvette
3. The Crew of the Long Serpent
4. Oliver Basselin
5. King Olaf’s War-Horns

Print

2480 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version