Endymion by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend August 27, 2016   Endymion   Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The rising moon has hid the stars; Her level rays, like golden bars,        Lie on the landscape green,        With shadows brown between.   And silver white the river gleams, As if Diana, in her dreams,        Had dropt her silver bow        Upon the meadows low.   On such a tranquil night as this, She woke Endymion with a kiss,        When, sleeping in the grove,        He dreamed not of her love.   Like Dian’s kiss, unasked, unsought, Love gives itself, but is not bought;        Her voice, nor sound betrays        Its deep, impassioned gaze.   It comes,—the beautiful, the free, The crown of all humanity,—        In silence and alone        To seek the elected one.   It lifts the boughs, whose shadows deep, Are Life’s oblivion, the soul’s sleep,        And kisses the closed eyes        Of him, who slumbering lies.   O, weary hearts! O, slumbering eyes! O, drooping souls, whose destinies        Are fraught with fear and pain,        Ye shall be loved again!   No one is so accursed by fate, No one so utterly desolate,        But some heart, though unknown,        Responds unto his own.   Responds,—as if with unseen wings, A breath from heaven had touched its strings        And whispers, in its song,       “Where hast though stayed so long!”            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “Endymion” was published in Ballads and Other Poems (John Owen, 1841).   Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on February 27, 1807, in Portland, Maine. His collections of poetry include Tales of a Wayside Inn (Welch, Bigelow, and Company, 1863) and The Song of Hiawatha (Ticknor and Fields, 1855). He died on March 24, 1882. Poetry by Longfellow   Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Poems & Other Writings (Library of America, 2000)  "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant "The Sirens" by James Russell Lowell "A Fixed Idea" by Amy Lowell Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038