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The Broken Oar

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Topics: classic

Once upon Iceland's solitary strand         A poet wandered with his book and pen,         Seeking some final word, some sweet Amen,         Wherewith to close the volume in his hand.     The billows rolled and plunged upon the sand,         The circling sea-gulls swept beyond his ken,         And from the parting cloud-rack now and then         Flashed the red sunset over sea and land.     Then by the billows at his feet was tossed         A broken oar; and carved thereon he read,         "Oft was I weary, when I toiled at thee";     And like a man, who findeth what was lost,         He wrote the words, then lifted up his head,         And flung his useless pen into the sea.

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"Once upon Iceland's solitary strand..."

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Author:Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Once upon Iceland's solitary strand..." 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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