Laurel · Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · The Complete Poetical Works

The Lighthouse

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) · 1839–1882

iambic pentameter · ABAB · 56 lines · from The Complete Poetical Works

The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,And on its outer point, some miles away,The Lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.

Even at this distance I can see the tides,Upheaving, break unheard along its base,A speechless wrath, that rises and subsidesIn the white lip and tremor of the face.

And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,Through the deep purple of the twilight air,Beams forth the sudden radiance of its lightWith strange, unearthly splendor in the glare!

Not one alone; from each projecting capeAnd perilous reef along the ocean's verge,Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,Holding its lantern o'er the restless surge.

Like the great giant Christopher it standsUpon the brink of the tempestuous wave,Wading far out among the rocks and sands,The night-o'ertaken mariner to save.

And the great ships sail outward and return,Bending and bowing o'er the billowy swells,And ever joyful, as they see it burn,They wave their silent welcomes and farewells.

They come forth from the darkness, and their sailsGleam for a moment only in the blaze,And eager faces, as the light unveils,Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.

The mariner remembers when a child,On his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink;And when, returning from adventures wild,He saw it rise again o'er ocean's brink.

Steadfast, serene, immovable, the sameYear after year, through all the silent nightBurns on forevermore that quenchless flame,Shines on that inextinguishable light!

It sees the ocean to its bosom claspThe rocks and sea-sand with the kiss of peace;It sees the wild winds lift it in their grasp,And hold it up, and shake it like a fleece.

The startled waves leap over it; the stormSmites it with all the scourges of the rain,And steadily against its solid formPress the great shoulders of the hurricane.

The sea-bird wheeling round it, with the dinOf wings and winds and solitary cries,Blinded and maddened by the light within,Dashes himself against the glare, and dies.

A new Prometheus, chained upon the rock,Still grasping in his hand the fire of Jove,It does not hear the cry, nor heed the shock,But hails the mariner with words of love.

"Sail on!" it says, "sail on, ye stately ships!And with your floating bridge the ocean span;Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse,Be yours to bring man nearer unto man!"

Words in this poem

unheard a.: Not heard; not perceived by the ear; as, words unheard by those present.
speechless a.: Destitute or deprived of the faculty of speech.
unearthly a.: Not terrestrial; supernatural; preternatural; hence, weird; appalling; terrific; as, an unearthly sight or sound.
glare v. i.: To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
brink n.: The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
billowy a.: Of or pertaining to billows; swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows.
quenchless a.: Incapable of being quenched; inextinguishable; as, quenchless fire or fury.
wheeling n.: The act of conveying anything, or traveling, on wheels, or in a wheeled vehicle.
jove n.: The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Lighthouse is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Lighthouse, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-lighthouse.html, id L17564.

Form and metre

The Lighthouse is 56 lines in 14 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 12 of its 14 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in iambic pentameter.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 -A-A sea · away^A · masonry · day^A
2 ABAB tides^A · base^B · subsides^A · face^B
3 ABAB bright^A · air^B · light^A · glare^B
4 ABAB cape^A · verge^B · shape^A · surge^B
5 ABAB stands^A · wave^B · sands^A · save^B
6 ABAB return^A · swells^B · burn^A · farewells^B
7 ABAB sails^A · blaze^B · unveils^A · gaze^B
8 ABAB child^A · sink^B · wild^A · brink^B
9 ABAB same^A · night^B · flame^A · light^B
10 ABAB clasp^A · peace^B · grasp^A · fleece^B
11 ABAB storm^A · rain^B · form^A · hurricane^B
12 ABAB din^A · cries^B · within^A · dies^B
13 A-A- rock^A · jove · shock^A · love
14 ABAB ships^A · span^B · eclipse^A · man^B

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,	10	·/˘·······
And on its outer point, some miles away,	10	···/˘···˘/
The Lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,	10	·/···/˘/˘˘
A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.	11	·/˘·/······
Even at this distance I can see the tides,	10	/··/˘·····
Upheaving, break unheard along its base,	10	····˘/˘/··
A speechless wrath, that rises and subsides	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
In the white lip and tremor of the face.	10	·····/˘···
And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,	10	···/˘/˘···
Through the deep purple of the twilight air,	10	···/˘··/··
Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light	10	···/˘/˘···
With strange, unearthly splendor in the glare!	10	··˘/˘/˘···
Not one alone; from each projecting cape	10	··˘/··˘/˘·
And perilous reef along the ocean's verge,	10	·/˘·˘/·/˘·
Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,	10	······˘/˘·
Holding its lantern o'er the restless surge.	10	/˘·/˘··/˘·
Like the great giant Christopher it stands	10	···/˘/˘˘··
Upon the brink of the tempestuous wave,	10	·······/˘·
Wading far out among the rocks and sands,	10	/˘········
The night-o'ertaken mariner to save.	10	·····/˘˘··
And the great ships sail outward and return,	10	·····/˘·˘/
Bending and bowing o'er the billowy swells,	11	/˘·/˘··/˘˘·
And ever joyful, as they see it burn,	10	·/˘/˘·····
They wave their silent welcomes and farewells.	10	···/˘/˘··/
They come forth from the darkness, and their sails	10	·····/˘···
Gleam for a moment only in the blaze,	10	···/˘/˘···
And eager faces, as the light unveils,	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.	10	···/·/˘···
The mariner remembers when a child,	10	·/˘˘˘/˘···
On his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink;	11	···/˘······
And when, returning from adventures wild,	10	··˘/˘·˘/˘·
He saw it rise again o'er ocean's brink.	10	····˘/·/˘·
Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same	10	/·˘/˘/˘˘··
Year after year, through all the silent night	10	·······/˘·
Burns on forevermore that quenchless flame,	10	·······/˘·
Shines on that inextinguishable light!	10	··········
It sees the ocean to its bosom clasp	10	···/˘··/˘·
The rocks and sea-sand with the kiss of peace;	10	··········
It sees the wild winds lift it in their grasp,	10	··········
And hold it up, and shake it like a fleece.	10	··········
The startled waves leap over it; the storm	10	·/˘·······
Smites it with all the scourges of the rain,	10	·····/˘···
And steadily against its solid form	10	·/˘˘···/˘·
Press the great shoulders of the hurricane.	10	···/˘··/˘·
The sea-bird wheeling round it, with the din	10	···/˘·····
Of wings and winds and solitary cries,	10	·····/˘·˘·
Blinded and maddened by the light within,	10	/˘·/˘·····
Dashes himself against the glare, and dies.	10	/˘˘/······
A new Prometheus, chained upon the rock,	11	··˘/˘˘·····
Still grasping in his hand the fire of Jove,	10	·/˘····/··
It does not hear the cry, nor heed the shock,	10	··········
But hails the mariner with words of love.	10	···/˘˘····
"Sail on!" it says, "sail on, ye stately ships!	10	·······/˘·
And with your floating bridge the ocean span;	10	···/˘··/˘·
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse,	10	········˘/
Be yours to bring man nearer unto man!"	10	·····/˘···

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

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