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Fragment - August 18, 1847.

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Topics: classic

O faithful, indefatigable tides,     That evermore upon God's errands go,--     Now seaward bearing tidings of the land,--     Now landward bearing tidings of the sea,--     And filling every frith and estuary,     Each arm of the great sea, each little creek,     Each thread and filament of water-courses,     Full with your ministration of delight!     Under the rafters of this wooden bridge     I see you come and go; sometimes in haste     To reach your journey's end, which being done     With feet unrested ye return again     And recommence the never-ending task;     Patient, whatever burdens ye may bear,     And fretted only by the impeding rocks.

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"O faithful, indefatigable tides,..."

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Author:Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"O faithful, indefatigable tides,..." by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

About Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) was the most popular American poet of the 19th century. His narrative poems—including "Paul Revere's Ride," "Evangeline," and "The Song of Hiawatha"—made poetry accessible to a mass audience and shaped American cultural identity.

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