The Four Princesses at Wilna
The Four Princesses at Wilna - meaning Summary
Youth, Beauty, and Love
Longfellow’s short lyric pictures four princesses leaning from a castle window, described as embodiments of youth, beauty, and an untarnished family name. The poem emphasizes their serene, innocent presence as a kind of living portrait, observed from below. A street singer’s refrain—Faith, Hope, and Love, the greatest being Love—frames their image, suggesting that love is the central, human value illuminating their gentle grace.
Read Complete AnalysesSweet faces, that from pictured casements lean As from a castle window, looking down On some gay pageant passing through a town, Yourselves the fairest figures in the scene; With what a gentle grace, with what serene Unconsciousness ye wear the triple crown Of youth and beauty and the fair renown Of a great name, that ne'er hath tarnished been! From your soft eyes, so innocent and sweet, Four spirits, sweet and innocent as they, Gaze on the world below, the sky above; Hark! there is some one singing in the street; 'Faith, Hope, and Love! these three,' he seems to say; 'These three; and greatest of the three is Love.'
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