All houses wherein men have lived and died
Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
With feet that make no sound upon the floors.
We meet them at the door-way, on the stair,
Along the passages they come and go,
Impalpable impressions on the air,
A sense of something moving to and fro.
There are more guests at table than the hosts
Invited; the illuminated hall
Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,
As silent as the pictures on the wall.
The stranger at my fireside cannot see
The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear;
He but perceives what is; while unto me
All that has been is visible and clear.
[...]
So from the world of spirits there descends
A bridge of light, connecting it with this,
O'er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,
Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine (1807). He was the most popular poet in America during the nineteenth century. A number of his phrases, such as "ships that pass in the night," "the patter of little feet," and "I shot an arrow into the air, it fell to earth, I know not where" have become common sayings. Longfellow was one of the first American writers to use native themes. He wrote about the American scene and landscape. He wrote about the American Indian in "Song of Hiawatha," and about American history and tradition in "The Courtship of Miles Standish," "Evangeline," and, of course, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." He taught modern languages at Bowdoin College, his alma mater and then at Harvard where he was quite a romantic figure, with flowing hair and yellow gloves and flowered waistcoats. Eventually, the success of his poems allowed to him to make a living for himself and his family. He became one of America's first writers to support himself through his own work.
Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
With feet that make no sound upon the floors.
We meet them at the door-way, on the stair,
Along the passages they come and go,
Impalpable impressions on the air,
A sense of something moving to and fro.
There are more guests at table than the hosts
Invited; the illuminated hall
Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,
As silent as the pictures on the wall.
The stranger at my fireside cannot see
The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear;
He but perceives what is; while unto me
All that has been is visible and clear.
[...]
So from the world of spirits there descends
A bridge of light, connecting it with this,
O'er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,
Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine (1807). He was the most popular poet in America during the nineteenth century. A number of his phrases, such as "ships that pass in the night," "the patter of little feet," and "I shot an arrow into the air, it fell to earth, I know not where" have become common sayings. Longfellow was one of the first American writers to use native themes. He wrote about the American scene and landscape. He wrote about the American Indian in "Song of Hiawatha," and about American history and tradition in "The Courtship of Miles Standish," "Evangeline," and, of course, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." He taught modern languages at Bowdoin College, his alma mater and then at Harvard where he was quite a romantic figure, with flowing hair and yellow gloves and flowered waistcoats. Eventually, the success of his poems allowed to him to make a living for himself and his family. He became one of America's first writers to support himself through his own work.
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