Fire. (Sonnet II.)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)



Not without fire can any workman mould
The iron to his preconceived design,
Nor can the artist without fire refine
And purify from all its dross the gold;
Nor can revive the phoenix, we are told,
Except by fire. Hence if such death be mine
I hope to rise again with the divine,
Whom death augments, and time cannot make old.
O sweet, sweet death! O fortunate fire that burns
Within me still to renovate my days,
Though I am almost numbered with the dead!
If by its nature unto heaven returns
This element, me, kindled in its blaze,
Will it bear upward when my life is fled.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
114

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBACDECDE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 568
Words 110
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. more…

All Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poems | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Books

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