) _.ri i .ONGFEtLOW. THE HANGING OP THE CEANE HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW El lustrations BOSTON JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY LATE TICKNOR & FIELDS, AND FIELDS, OSGOOD, & Co. 1870 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, BY IIEN11Y WADSWOHTEI LONGFELLOW, in the Office of the. Librarian of Congress, at Washington. IN MCMORUM X \\C,v \r \4 1 UNIVERSITY PRESS: WELCH, BIGELOW, & Co. CAMBRIDGE. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ENGRAVED BY A. V. S. ANTHONY AND W. J. LINTON. THE GOLDEN WEDDING " The lights are out, and gone are all the guests, That thronging came with merriment and jests " "Like a new star just sprung to birth" " And now I sit and muse on what may be " " They want no guests ; they needs must be Each other s own best company " "The picture fades; as at a village fair A showman s views dissolving into air" "A royal guest with flaxen hair, "Who, throned upon his lofty chair" As one who walking in a forest sees A lovely landscape through the parted trees " ; A Princess from the Fairy Tales, The very pattern girl of girls " ARTIST. PAGE. MARY A. HALLOCK. Front. 7 9 11 13 17 19 THOMAS MOKAN MARY A. HALLOCK 25 27 926478 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ARTIST. PAGE. " Planets that emerge Above the ocean s rounded verge " THOMAS MORAN 29 : Again the tossing boughs shut out the scene, Again the drifting vapors intervene" 31 : The meadow-brook, that seemeth to stand still " 37 After a day of cloud and wind and rain Sometimes the setting sun breaks out again" 43 THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. 1. THE lights are out, and gone are all the guests That thronging came with merriment and jests To celebrate the Hanging of the Crane In the new house, into the night are gone ; But still the fire upon the : hearth Churns on, And I alone remain. , ,,,;, THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. fortunate, happy day, When a new household finds its place Among the myriad homes of earth, Like a new star just sprung to birth, And rolled on its harmonious way Into the boundless realms of space ! So said the guests in speech and song, As in the chimney, burning bright, We hung the iron crane to-night, And merry was the feast and long. II. AND now I sit and muse on what may be, And in my vision see, or seem to see, Through floating vapors interfused with light, Shapes indeterminate, that gleam and fade, As shadows passing into deeper shade Sink and elude the sight. THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. For two alone, there in the hall, Is spread the table round and small; THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. Upon the polished silver shine The evening lamps, but, more divine, The light of love shines over all ; Of love, that says not mine and thine, But ours, for ours is thine and mine. They want no guests, to come between Their tender glances like a screen, And tell them tales of land and sea, And whatsoever may betide The great, forgotten world outside ; "/They want no guests ; they needs must be Each other s own best company. 15 III. THE picture fades ; as at a village fair A showman s views, dissolving into air, Again appear transfigured on the screen, So in my fancy this ; and now once more, In part transfigured, through the open door Appears the selfsame scene. 17 THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. Seated, I see the two again, But not alone ; they entertain A little angel unaware, With face as round as is the moon; THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. A royal guest with flaxen hair, Who, throned upon his lofty chair, Drums on the table with his spoon, Then drops it careless on the floor, To grasp at things unseen before. Are these celestial manners? these The ways that win, the arts that please ? Ah yes ; consider well the guest, And whatsoe er he does seems best ; He ruleth by the right divine Of helplessness, so lately born In purple chambers of the morn, As sovereign over thee and thine. He speaketh not; and yet there lies A conversation in his eyes ; THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. The golden silence of the Greek, The gravest wisdom of the wise, Not spoken in language, but in looks More legible than printed books, As if he could but would not speak. And now, O monarch absolute, Thy power is put to proof ; for, lo ! Resistless, fathomless, and slow, The nurse comes rustling like the sea, And pushes back thy chair and thee, And so good night to King Canute. 23 IV. As one who walking in a forest sees A lovely landscape through the parted trees, Then sees it not, for boughs that intervene ; Or as we see the moon sometimes revealed Through drifting clouds, and then again concealed, So I behold the scene. 25 THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. There are two guests at table now ; The king, deposed and older grown, No longer occupies the throne, - The crown is on his sister s brow ; A Princess from the Fairy Isles, The very pattern girl of girls, All covered and embowered in curls, Rose-tinted from the Isle of Flowers, And sailing with soft, silken sails From far-off Dreamland into ours. Above their bowls with rims of blue Four azure eyes of deeper hue 27 THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. Are looking, dreamy with delight. Limpid as planets that emerge Above the ocean s rounded verge, Soft-shining through the summer night. Steadfast they gaze, yet nothing see Beyond the horizon of their bowls ; Nor care they for the world that rolls With all its freight of troubled souls Into the days that are to be. 29 V. AGAIN the tossing boughs shut out the scene, Again the drifting vapors intervene, And the moon s pallid disk is hidden quite ; And now I see the table wider grown, As round a pebble into water thrown Dilates a ring of light. THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. I see the table wider grown, I see it garlanded with guests, As if fair Ariadne s Crown Out of the sky had fallen down; Maidens within whose tender breasts A thousand restless hopes and fears, Forth reaching to the coming years, Flutter awhile, then quiet lie, Like timid birds that fain would fly, But do not dare to leave their nests ; - And youths, who in their strength elate Challenge the van and front of fate, Eager as champions to be In the divine knight-errantry Of youth, that travels sea and land THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. Seeking adventures, or pursues, Through cities, and through solitudes Frequented by the lyric Muse, r rhe phantom with the beckoning hand, That still allures and still eludes. O sweet illusions of the brain ! sudden thrills of fire and frost ! The world is bright while ye remain, And dark and dead when ye are lost ! 35 i : ----.;- ^ : - P VI. THE meadow-brook, that seemeth to stand still, Quickens its current as it nears the mill ; And so the stream of Time that lingereth In level places, and so dull appears, Runs with a swifter current as it nears The gloomy mills of Death. 37 THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. And now, like the magician s scroll, That in the owner s keeping shrinks With every wish he speaks or thinks, Till the last wish consumes the whole, The table dwindles, and again I see the two alone remain. The crown of stars is broken in parts Its jewels, brighter than the clay, Have one by one been stolen away To shine in other homes and hearts. One is a wanderer now afar In Ceylon or in Zanzibar, Or sunny regions of Cathay ; And one is in the boisterous camp Mid clink of arms and horses tramp, S9 THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. And battle s terrible array. I see the patient mother read, With aching heart, of wrecks that float Disabled on those seas remote, Or of some great heroic deed On battle-fields, where thousands bleed To lift one hero into fame. Anxious she bends her graceful head Above these chronicles of pain, And trembles with a secret dread Lest there among the drowned or slain She find the one beloved name. VII. AFTER a day of cloud and wind and rain Sometimes the setting sun breaks out again, And, touching all the darksome woods with light, Smiles on the fields, until they laugh and sing, Then like a ruby from the horizon s ring Drops down into the night. 43 THE HANGING OE THE CRANE. What see I now? The night is fair, The storm of grief, the clouds of care, The wind, the rain, have passed away ; The lamps are lit, the fires burn bright, The house is full of life and light : It is the Golden Wedding day. The guests come thronging in once more, Quick footsteps sound along the floor, The trooping children crowd the stair, And in and out and everywhere Flashes along the corridor The sunshine of their golden hair. On the round table in the hall Another Ariadne s Crown Out of the sky hath fallen down ; 45 THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. More than one Monarch of the Moon Is drumming with his silver spoon ; The light of love shines over all. O fortunate, O happy day ! The people sing, the people say. The ancient bridegroom and the bride, Serenely smiling on the scene, Behold, well-pleased, on every side Their forms and features multiplied, As the reflection of a light Between two burnished mirrors gleams, Or lamps upon a bridge at night Stretch on and on before the sight, Till the long vista endless seems. 47 HENRY f AM ORTH LONGFELLOW S WORKS PUBLISHED BY JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO., Boston, And for sale by all booksellers, or sent, post-paid, by the Publishers, on receipt of price. POEMS. Illustrated Holiday Edition. 300 Illustrations and Portrait, i vol. 8vo ........ Cambridge Edition. Portrait. 4 vols. i6mo . Two- Volume Cambridge Edition. 4 Plates. 2 vols. i2mo . Cabinet Edition. Portrait. 2 vols. 181110 Blue and Gold Edition. Portrait. 2 vols. 321110 . Red- Line Edition. Portrait and Illustrations, i vol. i2mo Diamond Edition, i vol. 32mo PROSE WORKS. Cambridge Edition. Portrait. 3 vols. i6mo . do. Cabinet Edition. Portrait. 2 vols. i8mo do. Blue and Gold Edition. Portrait. 2 vols. 32010 3 VOls. 121710 I Vol. I2IT10 Cabinet Edition, i vol. i8mo . Blue and Gold Edition, i vol. 32010 . Red-Line Edition, i vol. i2mo Diamond Edition, i vol. 32010 COMMEDIA. 3 vols. Royal 8vo . do. Cambridge Ed. 3 vols. i6mo i vol. i2ino . Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. 1OSi Do. Do. CHRISTUS, A Mystery. Do. do. Do. do. Do. do. Do. do. Do. do. DANTE S DIVINA Do. do. Do. do. do. $ 10.00 10.00 8.00 4.00 300 4-50 1.50 7-50 4.00 300 4-50 3.00 2.00 1.50 3-50 15.00 6.00 3.00 SEPARATE WORKS. 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