Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A National Treasure

The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls

The tide rises, the tide falls,

The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;

Along the sea-sands damp and brown

The traveller hastens toward the town,

      And the tide rises, the tide falls.

Darkness settles on roofs and walls,

But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;

The little waves, with their soft, white hands,

Efface the footprints in the sands,

      And the tide rises, the tide falls.

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls

Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;

The day returns, but nevermore

Returns the traveller to the shore,

      And the tide rises, the tide falls.

What a dark mysterious poem. The poem really brings on the feeling that death is inevitable no matter what we try to do to stop it. It feels to me that the poem starts very warm and beautiful and slowly becomes darker and slower as its read. You can really tell that he writes about what he is feeling at the time. The poem is also very relevant to all of us because we are all curious about death.  Some of his most notable works is a poem about the famous ride of Paul Revere. When reading some of his different poems, one gets the sense that he greatly admired the lives of his fellow Americans. He writes about our curiosity, history, and futures throughout his different amazing works.

Link to Poem: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173917