Analysis of The Celestial Pilot. (From Dante. Purgatorio, II.)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)
And now, behold! as at the approach of morning,
Through the gross vapors, Mars grows fiery red
Down in the west upon the ocean floor,
Appeared to me,-- may I again behold it!--
A light along the sea, so swiftly coming,
Its motion by no flight of wing is equalled.
And when therefrom I had withdrawn a little
Mine eyes, that I might question my conductor,
Again I saw it brighter grown and larger.
Thereafter, on all sides of it, appeared
I knew not what of white, and underneath,
Little by little, there came forth another.
My master yet had uttered not a word,
While the first whiteness into wings unfolded;
But, when he clearly recognized the pilot,
He cried aloud : 'Quick, quick, and bow the knee!
Behold the Angel of God! fold up thy hands!
Henceforward shalt thou see such officers!
See, how he scorns all human arguments,
So that no oar he wants, nor other sail
Than his own wings, between so distant shores!
See, how he holds them, pointed straight to heaven,
Fanning the air with the eternal pinions,
That do not moult themselves like mortal hair!'
And then, as nearer and more near us came
The Bird of Heaven, more glorious he appeared,
So that the eye could not sustain his presence,
But down I cast it; and he came to shore
With a small vessel, gliding swift and light,
So that the waters swallowed nought thereof.
Upon the stern stood the Celestial Pilot!
Beatitude seemed written on his face!
And more than a hundred spirits sat within
'
In exitu Israel de AEgypto!
'
Thus sang they all together in one voice,
With whatso in that Psalm is after written.
Then made he sight of holy rood upon them,
Whereat all cast themselves upon the shore,
And he departed swiftly as he came.
Scheme | ABCDABEFFGHFIJKLMNOPQRMSTGUCVWKXY B ZR1 CT |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010111001110 10110111001 1001010101 01111101011 01010111010 1101111111 0111101010 11111101010 01111101010 0101111101 111111001 10110111010 1101110101 10110011010 1111010010 1101110101 01010111111 11111100 1111110100 1111111101 1111011101 11111101110 1001100101 1111011101 0111001111 011101100101 11011101110 1111101111 1011010101 110101011 01011001010 1110111 01101010101 1 0110011 1 1111010011 1101111010 11111101011 111010101 0101010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,669 |
Words | 313 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 41 |
Lines Amount | 41 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,318 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 309 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 133 Views
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"The Celestial Pilot. (From Dante. Purgatorio, II.)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18832/the-celestial-pilot.-%28from-dante.-purgatorio%2C-ii.%29>.
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