The Wreck of the Hesperus
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
It was the schooner Hesperus,
That sailed the wintry sea;
And the skipper had taken his little daughter,
To bear him company.Blue were her eyes as the fairy-flax,
Her cheeks like the dawn of day,
And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds,
That ope in the month of May.The skipper he stood beside the helm,
His pipe was in his mouth,
And he watched how the veering flaw did blow
The smoke now West, now South.Then up and spake an old Sailòr,
Had sailed to the Spanish Main,
“I pray thee, put into yonder port,
For I fear a hurricane.“Last night, the moon had a golden ring,
And to-night no moon we see!”
The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe,
And a scornful laugh laughed he.Colder and louder blew the wind,
A gale from the Northeast,
The snow fell hissing in the brine,
And the billows frothed like yeast.Down came the storm, and smote amain
The vessel in its strength;
She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed,
Then leaped her cable’s length.“Come hither! come hither! my little daughter,
And do not tremble so;
For I can weather the roughest gale
That ever wind did blow.”He wrapped her warm in his seaman’s coat
Against the stinging blast;
He cut a rope from a broken spar,
And bound her to the mast.“O father! I hear the church-bells ring,
Oh say, what may it be?”
“‘T is a fog-bell on a rock-bound coast!” —
And he steered for the open sea.“O father! I hear the sound of guns,
Oh say, what may it be?”
“Some ship in distress, that cannot live
In such an angry sea!”“O father! I see a gleaming light,
Oh say, what may it be?”
But the father answered never a word,
A frozen corpse was he.Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark,
With his face turned to the skies,
The lantern gleamed through the gleaming snow
On his fixed and glassy eyes.Then the maiden clasped her hands and prayed
That saved she might be;
And she thought of Christ, who stilled the wave
On the Lake of Galilee.And fast through the midnight dark and drear,
Through the whistling sleet and snow,
Like a sheeted ghost, the vessel swept
Tow’rds the reef of Norman’s Woe.And ever the fitful gusts between
A sound came from the land;
It was the sound of the trampling surf
On the rocks and the hard sea-sand.The breakers were right beneath her bows,
She drifted a dreary wreck,
And a whooping billow swept the crew
Like icicles from her deck.She struck where the white and fleecy waves
Looked soft as carded wool,
But the cruel rocks, they gored her side
Like the horns of an angry bull.Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice,
With the masts went by the board;
Like a vessel of glass, she stove and sank,
Ho! ho! the breakers roared!At daybreak, on the bleak sea-beach,
A fisherman stood aghast,
To see the form of a maiden fair,
Lashed close to a drifting mast.The salt sea was frozen on her breast,
The salt tears in her eyes;
And he saw her hair, like the brown sea-weed,
On the billows fall and rise.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!
Summary of The Wreck of the Hesperus
- Popularity of “The Wreck of the Hesperus”: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a great American poet and educator, wrote ‘The Wreck of the Hesperus’. It is one of the best literary pieces and famous for its themes of tragedy, arrogance, and foolishness. It was first published in Ballads and Other Poems in 1842. The poem shows the final journey of a sailor. It also illustrates how the stubborn attitude of the sailor brings terrible fate for his daughter.
- The Wreck of the Hesperus”, as a Representative of Arrogance: This poem is about an arrogant ship captain. The poet presents a graphic picture of the sad demise of that captain and his daughter. The captain takes his daughter on an ill-fated voyage across the sea. While leaving, an experienced sailor warns him about the approaching storm, but he does not pay heed and sails on. Unfortunately, he gets caught up in that wild storm. To save his daughter from being overthrown by the strong gust of waves, he ties her to the mast and, dies of cold. His daughter prays for her safety, but it goes in vain. The ship crashes into the reef of Norman’s Woe and the daughter dies too.
- Major Themes in “The Wreck of the Hesperus”: Arrogance, man versus nature and foolishness are the major themes of this poem. The poem unfolds the story of a foolish and arrogant sailor who ignores the advice of an old sailor with a simple scornful laugh and walks willingly into his doom. It is only his foolishness that becomes the reason for their horrible death. Although he tries to save his daughter, he fails. Both meet their devastating end in the sea.
Analysis of Literary Devices in “The Wreck of the Hesperus”
Literary devices are tools used by writers to expresses emotions, ideas, and themes and also to make their text more appealing to the reader. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow has also employed some literary devices in this poem to express his feelings. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem has been given below.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /oo/ in ‘Looked soft as carded wool’ and the sound of /i/ in ‘Come hither! come hither! my little daughtèr’.
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /s/ in ‘Christ save us all from a death like this’ and the sound of /l/ in ‘Through the whistling sleet and snow’.
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession such as the sound of /sh/ in ‘Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice’ and the sound of /s/ in “The salt sea was frozen on her breast.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “Through the whistling sleet and snow”, “And he saw her hair, like the brown sea-weed” and “Like a vessel of glass, she stove and sank.”
- Hyperbole: Hyperbole is a device used to exaggerate a statement for the sake of emphasis. For example, the poet has used hyperbole in the second line of the ninth stanza, ‘Against the stinging blast’.
- Personification: Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects. For example, the sea is personified in ‘In such an angry sea’. He has also personified rocks in, ‘But the cruel rocks, they gored her side’.
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought or clause that does not come to an end at a line break; instead, it moves over the next line. For example,
“But the cruel rocks, they gored her side
Like the horns of an angry bull.”
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “The Wreck of the Hesperus”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines or verses. There are twenty-two stanzas in this poem; each comprises four lines.
- Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is a quatrain.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABAB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues until the end.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. For example, “rise/eyes”, “woe/snow”, and “wreck/deck.”
Quotes to be Used
The lines stated below can be used by parents who want to reassure their children from life challenges or situations like nightmares.
“Come hither! come hither! my little daughter,
And do not tremble so;
For I can weather the roughest gale
That ever wind did blow.”