01c. 1844 ADWere half the power that fills the world with terror, Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts, Given to redeem the human mind from error, There were no need of arsenals nor forts. The warrior’s name would be a name abhorred; And every nation that should lift again Its hand against a brother, on its forehead Would wear for evermore the curse of Cain.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
02c. 1844 ADI like that ancient Saxon phrase which calls The burial-ground, God’s Acre! It is just; It consecrates each grave within its walls, And breathes a benison o’er the sleeping dust. Into its furrows shall we all be cast, In the sure faith that we shall rise again At the great harvest, when the Archangel’s blast Shall winnow, like a fan, the chaff and grain.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
03c. 1844 ADDown the dark future, through long generations, The echoing sounds grow fainter, and then cease! And like a bell with solemn sweet vibrations, I hear once more the voice of Christ say “Peace!” Peace! and no longer from its brazen portals The blast of war’s great organ shakes the skies; But, beautiful as songs of the immortals, The holiest melodies of love arise.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
04c. 1844 ADIn ocean’s wide domains, Half buried in the sands, Like skeletons in chains With shackled feet and hands. Beyond the fall of dews, Deeper than plummet lies, Float ships, with all their crews, No more to sink or rise. There the black slave-ship swims Freighted with human forms, Those fettered, fleshless limbs Are not the sport of storms. These are the bones of slaves: They gleam from the abyss; They cry from yawning waves, “We are the Witnesses!” Within earth’s wide domains Are markets for men’s lives; Their necks are galled with chains, Their wrists are cramped with gyves. Dead bodies, that the kite In deserts makes its prey; Murders, that with affright Scare school-boys from their play. All evil thoughts and deeds; Anger, and lust, and pride; The foulest, rankest weeds, That choke life’s groaning tide! These are the woes of slaves; They glare from the abyss; They cry, from unknown graves— “We are the Witnesses!”Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
05c. 1844 ADA word that has been said may be unsaid: it is but air. But when a deed is done, it cannot be undone, nor can our thoughts reach out to all the mischiefs that may follow.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
06c. 1844 ADThe little I have seen of the world teaches me to look upon the errors of others in sorrow, not in anger. When I take the history of one poor heart that has sinned and suffered, and represent to myself the struggles and temptations it has passed through, the brief pulsations of joy, the feverish inquietude of hope and fear, the pressure of want, the desertion of friends, I would fain leave the erring soul of my fellow-man with Him from whose hand it came.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
07c. 1844 ADHe has his Rome, his Florence, his whole glowing Italy, within the four walls of his library. He has in his books the ruins of an antique world, and the glories of a modern one.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
08c. 1844 ADMercy more becomes a magistrate than the vindictive wrath which men call justice!Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
09c. 1844 ADThe blossoms of passion, gay and luxuriant flowers, are brighter and fuller of fragrance, but they beguile us and lead us astray, and their odor is deadly.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
11c. 1844 ADThou hast betrayed thy secret as a bird betrays her nest, by striving to conceal it.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
12c. 1844 ADSoftly the evening came. The sun from the western horizon, like a magician, extended his golden wand o'er the landscape.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
13c. 1844 ADThe day is done; and slowly from the scene the stooping sun upgathers his spent shafts, and puts them back into his golden quiver!Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
15c. 1844 ADThen a voice within his breast Whispered, audible and clear: “Do thy duty; that is best; Leave unto the Lord the rest!”Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
17c. 1844 ADNot in the clamor of the crowded street, Nor in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, But in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
18c. 1844 ADThe dawn is not distant, Nor is the night starless; Love is eternal! God is still God, and His faith shall not fail us; Christ is eternal!Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
20c. 1844 ADGive what you have. To some one it may be better than you dare to think.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
21c. 1844 AD'Tis always morning somewhere, and above The awakening continents from shore to shore. Somewhere the birds are singing evermore.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
22c. 1844 ADAnd those who heard the Singers three Disputed which the best might be; For still their music seemed to start Discordant echoes in each heart. But the great Master said, "I see No best in kind, but in degree; I gave a various gift to each, To charm, to strengthen, and to teach. "These are the three great chords of might, And he whose ear is tuned aright, Will hear no discord in the three, But the most perfect harmony."Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
23c. 1844 ADI saw the long line of the vacant shore The sea-weed and the shells upon the sand, And the brown rocks left bare on every hand, As if the ebbing tide would flow no more, Then heard I, more distinctly than before, The ocean breathe and its great breast expand, And hurrying came on the defenceless land The insurgent waters with tumultuous roar. All thought and feeling and desire, I said, Love, laughter, and the exultant joy of song Have ebbed from me forever! Suddenly o'er me They swept again from their deep ocean bed And in a tumult of delight, and strong As youth, and beautiful as youth, upbore me.Henry W. Longfellow / quote ↗
