Tales of a Wayside Inn : Part 2. Interlude 2
Tales of a Wayside Inn : Part 2. Interlude 2 - context Summary
Composed After Personal Loss
This interlude opens a framed storytelling session from Longfellow’s Tales of a Wayside Inn (published 1863). A Student speaker shifts the company’s mood, invoking Eastern legends and asking for a lighter, merrier tale. The passage functions as a transitional preface that sends the narrative gaze eastward and prepares readers for a simple, old cobbler’s story. It was written during a period of personal loss for Longfellow, which colors the work’s reflective tone.
Read Complete Analyses'I thought before your tale began,' The Student murmured, 'we should have Some legend written by Judah Rav In his Gemara of Babylon; Or something from the Gulistan,-- The tale of the Cazy of Hamadan, Or of that King of Khorasan Who saw in dreams the eyes of one That had a hundred years been dead Still moving restless in his head, Undimmed, and gleaming with the lust Of power, though all the rest was dust. 'But lo! your glittering caravan On the road that leadeth to Ispahan Hath led us farther to the East Into the regions of Cathay. Spite of your Kalif and his gold, Pleasant has been the tale you told, And full of color; that at least No one will question or gainsay. And yet on such a dismal day We need a merrier tale to clear The dark and heavy atmosphere. So listen, Lordlings, while I tell, Without a preface, what befell A simple cobbler, in the year ? No matter; it was long ago; And that is all we need to know.'
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