Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“ Nearer the boat stood Alden, with one foot placed on the gunwale,
One still firm on the rock, and talking at times with the sailors,{86}
Seated erect on the thwarts, all ready and eager for starting.
He too was eager to go, and thus put an end to his anguish,80
Thinking to fly from despair, that swifter than keel is or canvas,
Thinking to drown in the sea the ghost that would rise and pursue him.
But as he gazed on the crowd, he beheld the form of Priscilla
Standing dejected among them, unconscious of all that was passing. ”

“ for it is the fate of a woman
Long to be patient and silent, to wait like a ghost that is speechless,30
Till some questioning voice dissolves the spell of its silence.{100}
Hence is the inner life of so many suffering women
Sunless and silent and deep, like subterranean rivers
Running through caverns of darkness, unheard, unseen, and unfruitful,
Chafing their channels of stone, with endless and profitless murmurs.”35
Thereupon answered John Alden, the young man, the lover of women:
“Heaven forbid it, Priscilla; ”

“ Grows for a moment thin, and betrays the sun by its brightness.
Once it had lifted its hand, and moved its lips, but was silent,
As if an iron will had mastered the fleeting intention.{143}30
But when were ended the troth and the prayer and the last benediction,
Into the room it strode, and the people beheld with amazement
Bodily there in his armor Miles Standish, the Captain of Plymouth!
Grasping the bridegroom’s hand, he said with emotion, “Forgive me!
I have been angry and hurt,—too long have I cherished the feeling;35
I have been cruel and hard, but now, thank God! it is ended. ”

“ Thus thought I, as by night I read
Of the great army of the dead,
The trenches cold and damp,
The starved and frozen camp,—
The wounded from the battle-plain,
In dreary hospitals of pain,
The cheerless corridors,
The cold and stony floors.
Lo! in that house of misery
A lady with a lamp I see
Pass through the glimmering gloom,
And flit from room to room.
And slow, as in a dream of bliss,
The speechless sufferer turns to kiss
Her shadow, as it falls
Upon the darkening walls.{222}
As if a door in heaven should be ”

“ Great was the people’s amazement, and greater yet their rejoicing,
Thus to behold once more the sun-burnt face of their Captain,50
Whom they had mourned as dead; and they gathered and crowded about him,
Eager to see him and hear him, forgetful of bride and of bridegroom,
Questioning, answering, laughing, and each interrupting the other,{146}
Till the good Captain declared, being quite overpowered and bewildered,
He had rather by far break into an Indian encampment,55
Than come again to a wedding to which he had not been invited. ”

“ Round the base of the rock, and the sparkle and flash of the sunshine,
Like the spirit of God, moving visibly over the waters.145
{95}
VI.
PRISCILLA.
HUS for a while he stood, and mused by the shore of the ocean,
Thinking of many things, and most of all of Priscilla;
And as if thought had the power to draw to itself, like the loadstone,{96}
Whatsoever it touches, by subtile laws of its nature,
Lo! as he turned to depart, Priscilla was standing beside him.5
“Are you so much offended, you will not speak to me?” ”

“ After a three days’ march he came to an Indian encampment
Pitched on the edge of a meadow, between the sea and the forest;{113}
Women at work by the tents, and the warriors, horrid with war-paint,
Seated about a fire, and smoking and talking together;
Who, when they saw from afar the sudden approach of the white men,25
Saw the flash of the sun on breastplate and sabre and musket,
Straightway leaped to their feet, and two, from among them advancing,
Came to parley with Standish, and offer him furs as a present;
Friendship was in their looks, but in their hearts there was hatred. ”

“ So as she sat at her wheel one afternoon in Autumn,
Alden, who opposite sat, and was watching her dexterous fingers,
As if the thread she was spinning were that of his life and his fortune,
After a pause in their talk, thus spake to the sound of the spindle.
“Truly, Priscilla,” he said, “when I see you spinning and spinning,45
Never idle a moment, but thrifty and thoughtful of others,{131}
Suddenly you are transformed, are visibly changed in a moment;
You are no longer Priscilla, but Bertha the Beautiful Spinner.”
Here the light foot on the treadle grew swifter and swifter ”

“ As from the verge of a crag, where one step more is destruction.
Strange is the heart of man, with its quick, mysterious instincts!
Strange is the life of man, and fatal or fated are moments,90
Whereupon turn, as on hinges, the gates of the wall adamantine!
“Here I remain!” he exclaimed, as he looked at the heavens above him,
Thanking the Lord whose breath had scattered the mist and the madness,
Wherein, blind and lost, to death he was staggering headlong.{88}
“Yonder snow-white cloud, that floats in the ether above me,95
Seems like a hand that is pointing and beckoning over the ocean. ”

“ Fierce in his soul was the struggle and tumult of passions contending;
Love triumphant and crowned, and friendship wounded and bleeding,
Passionate cries of desire, and importunate pleadings of duty!20
“Is it my fault,” he said, “that the maiden has chosen between us? ”

“ Whene’er a noble deed is wrought,
Whene’er is spoken a noble thought,
Our hearts, in glad surprise,
To higher levels rise. ”

“ Mingled their odorous breath with the balm of the pine and the fir-tree,
Wild and sweet as the clusters that grew in the valley of Eshcol.{151}
Like a picture it seemed of the primitive, pastoral ages,
Fresh with the youth of the world, and recalling Rebecca and Isaac,90
Old and yet ever new, and simple and beautiful always,
Love immortal and young in the endless succession of lovers.
So through the Plymouth woods passed onward the bridal procession.
{152}
The Earliest Map of Boston Bay and the Settlements of the Pilgrims. ”

“ Sun-illumined and white, on the eastern verge of the ocean
Gleamed the departing sail, like a marble slab in a graveyard;{94}
Buried beneath it lay for ever all hope of escaping.
Lo! as they turned to depart, they saw the form of an Indian,
Watching them from the hill; but while they spake with each other,140
Pointing with outstretched hands, and saying, “Look!” he had vanished. ”

“ Into the realm of mystery and night,—
So from the world of spirits there descends
A bridge of light, connecting it with this,
O’er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,
Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss. ”

“ Lighter grew their hearts, and Priscilla said very archly:
“Now that our terrible Captain has gone in pursuit of the Indians,80
Where he is happier far than he would be commanding a household,
You may speak boldly, and tell me of all that happened between you,
When you returned last night, and said how ungrateful you found me.”
Thereupon answered John Alden, and told her the whole of the story,—
Told her his own despair, and the direful wrath of Miles Standish.{107}85
Whereat the maiden smiled, and said between laughing and earnest,
“He is a little chimney, and heated hot in a moment!” ”

“ You will forgive me, I hope, for the sake of the friendship between us,
Which is too true and too sacred to be so easily broken!” ”

“ Loud over field and forest the cannon’s roar, and the echoes
Heard and repeated the sound, the signal-gun of departure!
Ah, but with louder echoes replied the hearts of the people!35
Meekly, in voices subdued, the chapter was read from the Bible,
Meekly the prayer was begun, but ended in fervent entreaty!
Then from their houses in haste came forth the Pilgrims of Plymouth,{80}
Men and women and children, all hurrying down to the sea-shore,
Eager, with tearful eyes, to say farewell to the May Flower,40
Homeward bound o’er the sea, and leaving them here in the desert. ”

“ For there are moments in life, when the heart is so full of emotion,
That if by chance it be shaken, or into its depths like a pebble
Drops some careless word, it overflows, and its secret,
Spilt on the ground like water, can never be gathered together.15
Yesterday I was shocked, when I heard you speak of Miles Standish,
Praising his virtues, transforming his very defects into virtues,
{98} ”

“ Then outspake Miles Standish, the stalwart Captain of Plymouth,
Muttering deep in his throat, for his voice was husky with anger,
“What! do you mean to make war with milk and the water of roses?
Is it to shoot red squirrels you have your howitzer planted
There on the roof of the church, or is it to shoot red devils?125
Truly the only tongue that is understood by a savage{71}
Must be the tongue of fire that speaks from the mouth of the cannon!” ”

“ Alden was left alone. He heard the clank of the scabbard
Growing fainter and fainter, and dying away in the distance.95
Then he arose from his seat, and looked forth into the darkness,
Felt the cool air blow on his cheek, that was hot with the insult,{67}
Lifted his eyes to the heavens, and, folding his hands as in childhood,
Prayed in the silence of night to the Father who seeth in secret. ”

“ Love contending with friendship, and self with each generous impulse.
To and fro in his breast his thoughts were heaving and dashing,
As in a foundering ship, with every roll of the vessel,{31}
Washes the bitter sea, the merciless surge of the ocean!10
“Must I relinquish it all,” he cried with a wild lamentation,
“Must I relinquish it all, the joy, the hope, the illusion? ”

“ ’Twas but a dream,—let it pass,—let it vanish like so many others!
What I thought was a flower, is only a weed, and is worthless;15
{112} ”

“ There are things of which I may not speak;
There are dreams that cannot die;
There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak,
And bring a pallor into the cheek,
And a mist before the eye. ”

“ Sensitive, swift to resent, but as swift in atoning for error.{144}
Never so much as now was Miles Standish the friend of John Alden.” ”

“ Like the river, swift and clear,
Flows his song through many a heart; ”

“ If you say aught that implies I am only as one among many,
If you make use of those common and complimentary phrases
Most men think so fine, in dealing and speaking with women,
But which women reject as insipid, if not as insulting.”{103}
Mute and amazed was Alden ”

“ Gayly, with joyous laugh, Priscilla mounted her palfrey.
“Nothing is wanting now,” he said with a smile, “but the distaff;
Then you would be in truth my queen, my beautiful Bertha!”
Onward the bridal procession now moved to their new habitation,{150}80
Happy husband and wife, and friends conversing together.
Pleasantly murmured the brook, as they crossed the ford in the forest,
Pleased with the image that passed, like a dream of love through its bosom,
Tremulous, floating in air, o’er the depths of the azure abysses. ”

“ Does not attain at a bound the height to which you have been climbing.
This is not right nor just: for surely a woman’s affection125
Is not a thing to be asked for, and had for only the asking.
When one is truly in love, one not only says it, but shows it.
Had he but waited awhile, had he only showed that he loved me,{48}
Even this Captain of yours—who knows?— at last might have won me,
Old and rough as he is; but now it never can happen.”130
Still John Alden went on unheeding the words of Priscilla,
Urging the suit of his friend, explaining, persuading, expanding ”

“ A Lady with a Lamp shall stand
In the great history of the land,
A noble type of good,
Heroic womanhood. ”

“ Back to Hugh Standish of Duxbury Hall, in Lancashire, England.”
Mute with amazement and sorrow, Priscilla the Puritan maiden105
Looked into Alden’s face, her eyes dilated with wonder,
Feeling his words like a blow, that stunned her and rendered her speechless;
Till at length she exclaimed, interrupting the ominous silence:
“If the great Captain of Plymouth is so very eager to wed me,
Why does he not come himself, and take the trouble to woo me?
If I am not worth the wooing, I surely am not worth the winning!” ”

“ Thus to be flouted, rejected, and laughed to scorn by a maiden,{111}
Thus to be mocked and betrayed by the friend whom most he had trusted!
Ah! ’twas too much to be borne, and he fretted and chafed in his armor!10
“I alone am to blame,” he muttered, “for mine was the folly.
What has a rough old soldier, grown grim and gray in the harness,
Used to the camp and its ways, to do with the wooing of maidens? ”

“ Shining like seven stars in the dusk and mist of the evening.55
Soon he entered his door, and found the redoubtable Captain
Sitting alone, and absorbed in the martial pages of Cæsar,
Fighting some great campaign in Hainault or Brabant or Flanders.
“Long have you been on your errand,” he said with a cheery demeanor,
Even as one who is waiting an answer, and fears not the issue.60
“Not far off is the house, although the woods are between us;{62}
But you have lingered so long, that while you were going and coming
I have fought ten battles and sacked and demolished a city. ”

“ Always ready to hear whatever pertains to Miles Standish.”45
Thereupon answered the Captain, embarrassed, and culling his phrases:
“’Tis not good for a man to be alone, say the Scriptures.
This I have said before, and again and again I repeat it;{22}
Every hour in the day, I think it, and feel it, and say it.
Since Rose Standish died, my life has been weary and dreary:50
Sick at heart have I been, beyond the healing of friendship.
Oft in my lonely hours have I thought of the maiden Priscilla.
She is alone in the world; her father and mother and brother
Died in the winter together ”