Project Gutenberg's The Wreck of the Hesperus, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Title: The Wreck of the Hesperus

Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Release Date: October 22, 2004 [EBook #13830]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration]

THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS

BY

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

_ILLUSTRATED_

New York
1889

* * * * *

INTRODUCTION.

"Norman's Woe" is the picturesque name of a rocky headland, reef, and
islet on the coast of Massachusetts, between Gloucester and Magnolia.
The special disaster in which the name originated had long been lost
from memory when the poet Longfellow chose the spot as a background
for his description of the "Wreck of the Hesperus," and gave it an
association that it will scarcely lose while the English language
endures. Nor does it matter to the legend lover that the ill-fated
schooner was not "gored" by the "cruel rocks" just at this point,
but nearer to the Gloucester coast.

The poet has done many things well; and he has done few things better
than this ballad in the quaint, old-time style, with its nervous energy
and sonorous rhythm, wherein one hears the trampling of waves and
crashing of timbers.

Indeed, it is so well done, by art concealing art, that much of its
force and beauty escape the careless reader; whereas, the thoughtful one
finds in it an ever-increasing charm. It is worth noting that love, the
usual ballad _motif_, is absent and is not missed. The almost human
struggles and sufferings of the vessel, and the contrast between the
daring, scornful skipper, and the gentle, devout maiden, in the midst of
the terrors of storm and wreck, furnish abundant emotion and imagery;
in truth, many of the lines are literally packed with color, movement,
and meaning.

* * * * *

ILLUSTRATIONS

BY

H. WINTHROP PIERCE,
EDMUND H. GARRETT,
J.D. WOODWARD,
W.F. HALSALL,

W.L. TAYLOR,
A. BUHLER,
H.P. BA