Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Song Portugese

from The Portuguese

Song Portugese - meaning Summary

Dawn Summons a Lover

The speaker urgently calls a sleeping maiden to rise and join a dawn journey across meadow, mount, and moor. The poem frames travel as intimate and immediate: slippers are unnecessary, bare feet will feel dew and cross swift waters. It emphasizes movement, the sensory freshness of morning, and a companionable summons that blends romantic entreaty with communion with the natural world. The tone is eager and intimate.

Read Complete Analyses

If thou art sleeping, maiden, Awake, and open thy door: 'Tis the break of day, and we must away, O'er meadow, and mount, and moor. Wait not to find thy slippers, But come with thy naked feet: We shall have to pass through the dewy grass, And waters wide and fleet.

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