H.W. Longfellow (1807-1882)

“Hymn to the night”
• How does the poet personify the Night? Find all the examples of personification in the poem.
• How does he describe the night in the first part?
• What does this image - the image of the night - mean to the poet?
• Why does he welcome her? What does he learn from her?
• What is the significance of the run-on line in the 5th and 4th parts? What feelings does it (the line) create?
• Are caesuras worth noticing in this poem? Why? Why not? What effect do they produce upon the poem?
• How do you understand the sustained metaphor in the 4th part? (“those deep cisterns...”)
• Through his years of study and travel abroad, Longfellow became well acquainted with European and Classical Literature. Cite the lines from the poem which show the influence of this background.
• What is the theme of the poem? With what/whom is the image of the night associated in this poem?
• How would you describe the tone of this poem?

“The secret of the sea”
• What details of the poem show that Longfellow has firsthand knowledge of the sea?
• How does the poet picture the sea in the first lines? What is the tone of this description?
• Sounds play a very important role in this poem, we can hear the meaning in the sounds. Prove it, find some literary techniques used by the poet.
• What Spanish ballad does Longfellow remember in the poem? What is it about?
• How, according to the helmsman, can one learn the secret of the sea?
• How does the poet create the mystic image of the sea in the first part of the poem?
• Comment upon the figures of speech in this part.
• What types of lines were used by Longfellow?
• Can we feel “a thrilling pulse of the sea” throughout the poem?
• Do you have any ideas what “the secret” might be?