In the Harbour: to the Avon
In the Harbour: to the Avon - meaning Summary
Shakespeare Remembered by River
Longfellow addresses the Avon as a witness to William Shakespeare’s life and legacy. He imagines the poet first as a sunny, barefoot boy playing at the river’s edge, then as a man whose work will travel beyond Stratford. The flowing stream becomes a quiet metaphor for life, art, and continuity: though the poet lies buried, his song follows the current into the wider world.
Read Complete AnalysesFlow on, sweet river! like his verse Who lies beneath this sculptured hearse; Nor wait beside the churchyard wall For him who cannot hear thy call. Thy playmate once; I see him now A boy with sunshine on his brow, And hear in Stratford's quiet street The patter of his little feet. I see him by thy shallow edge Wading knee-deep amid the sedge; And lost in thought, as if thy stream Were the swift river of a dream. He wonders whitherward it flows; And fain would follow where it goes, To the wide world, that shall erelong Be filled with his melodious song. Flow on, fair stream! That dream is o'er; He stands upon another shore; A vaster river near him flows, And still he follows where it goes.
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