In the Churchyard at Cambridge
Birds Of Passage. Flight The First
In the Churchyard at Cambridge - meaning Summary
Mortality and Unknowable Judgment
Longfellow observes a woman buried in a village churchyard and considers whether her life was spent in vanity or in humble charity. The poem emphasizes the silence of the dead and the impossibility of knowing another’s moral truth. It counsels against judgment, arguing that at the final accounting each person will be consumed by their own sins and fears rather than cataloguing others’ faults. Themes include mortality, humility, and private conscience.
Read Complete AnalysesIn the village churchyard she lies, Dust is in her beautiful eyes, No more she breathes, nor feels, nor stirs; At her feet and at her head Lies a slave to attend the dead, But their dust is white as hers. Was she a lady of high degree, So much in love with the vanity And foolish pomp of this world of ours? Or was it Christian charity, And lowliness and humility, The richest and rarest of all dowers? Who shall tell us? No one speaks; No color shoots into those cheeks, Either of anger or of pride, At the rude question we have asked; Nor will the mystery be unmasked By those who are sleeping at her side. Hereafter?--And do you think to look On the terrible pages of that Book To find her failings, faults, and errors? Ah, you will then have other cares, In your own short-comings and despairs, In your own secret sins and terrors!
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