Republic of the Philippines

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Calauan, Laguna Campus

A Literary Analysis of the Poem

“A Gleam of Sunshine”
by
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for World Literature for the Degree of
Bachelor of Business Technology and Livelihood Education
Major in Home Economics

GEED 10223

SUBMITTED BY:
Relleta, Princess L.
BBTLEd H.E. 4-1

SUBMITTED TO:
Professor Charlyne Flores
Course Instructor

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website: www.pup.edu.ph

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A Gleam of Sunshine by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“This is the place. Stand still, my steed,
Let me review the scene,
And summon from the shadowy Past
The forms that once have been.”

“The Past and Present here unite

Beneath Time’s flowing tide,
Like footprints hidden by a brook,
But seen on either side.”
A description of the hazy location the speaker reached in the previous stanza
opens the second verse. The passage indicates that time passes differently and
can be seen as a whole in this location. The adverb used to end the analogy
compares the feeling to suddenly being able to glimpse something that you
knew was concealed. It's interesting to note that where they appear, especially
in the first line, the terms "past," "now," and "time" are all capitalized. These
terms are capitalized by Longfellow to imply that they are proper nouns and
therefore that they are names rather than concepts. It's also conceivable that,
as is customary in many religious activities, the capitalization serves as a form
of deification.

“Here runs the highway to the town;

There the green lane descends,
Through which I walked to church with thee,
O gentlest of my friends!”
The same location is described in the third verse of "A Gleam of Sunshine" in a
literal meaning as opposed to a metaphorical or abstract one. This is significant
since, up until now, not much has suggested that the speaker is engaged in
anything other than a purely personal or metaphorical journey. They should pay
special attention to a nearby roadway because they used to frequently go to
church with an old friend along it in the past. They talk about how the grass is
green and how their companion is kind, two pictures that give the reader a
sense of brightness, serenity, and peace.
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“The shadow of the linden-trees
Lay moving on the grass;
Between them and the moving boughs,
A shadow, thou didst pass.”
The term "shadows" is repeated repeatedly in this verse, and the picture is
utilized to frame the other natural images that make up this section of the
narrative. While the friendly acquaintance of the speaker is mentioned merely
in passing as they wander about the scene, the trees, grass, and boughs are
described here. Although Longfellow's usage of "thou didst" makes assessing
the tense a little more challenging than normal, it's vital to remember that the
speaker is probably having a flashback in this location where the past and
present collide, as previously said. Given how closely they were connected by
something as basic as the friend's activity in a location they used to frequent
together, it begs the issue of why the speaker is standing here by themselves.

“Thy dress was like the lilies,

And thy heart as pure as they:
One of God’s holy messengers
Did walk with me that day.”
Here, the previous verse's romantic undertone is much more obvious and takes
on a secondary meaning; it would be rare to compare someone's clothing and
heart to lilies in a casual setting. The female in issue (probably a girl, in any
event) is described in this line as having angelic qualities, which accords with
the initial introduction that she is the kindest friend the speaker has ever known.
The fact that the speaker has returned to this location to recall her is obviously
a very special recollection, and it frames the entire poem, which at this point
appears to be more about the past than the present.

“I saw the branches of the trees

Bend down thy touch to meet,
The clover-blossoms in the grass
Rise up to kiss thy feet,”

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This verse's meaning is fairly clear because it begins with the words "I saw,"
which denotes that the speaker is employing personification to force their own
feelings on the world around them. They imagine that nature as a whole is
attempting to encircle this individual just for the sake of doing so, as the speaker
undoubtedly hopes they could.

“Sleep, sleep to-day, tormenting cares,

Of earth and folly born!”
Solemnly sang the village choir
on that sweet Sabbath morn.”
The story leaps ahead in the flashback to a period spent in the church that the
two friends visited for Sunday (Sabbath) service in stanza seven of "A Gleam
of Sunshine." This recollection is of the church choir singing about how there is
no need for worldly worries or anxiety on this day. The notion that humanity is
protected under God's vigilance serves as a counterargument to the notion put
forth before that the woman encountered is one of "God's holy messengers."
The reason the choir felt as though they were literally liberated from their
everyday worries and being protected by an angel as they sang is why the
speaker specifically remembers this song. That alliteration highlights the
speaker's thoughts at the moment and their memories of this "sweet Sabbath"
for a long time, but the combination of song and verse is the highlight.

“Through the closed blinds the golden sun

Poured in a dusty beam,
Like the celestial ladder seen
By Jacob in his dream.”
This verse of this poem is crucial because it introduces the image that serves
as the song's title—a solitary beam of sunshine shining through a church
window. When the speaker makes a comparison between this image and
Jacob's visions, it has a heavenly meaning. Jacob was a Prophet of God,
according to Abrahamic tradition, and is commonly regarded as the father and
creator of Israel. He is also the grandson of Abraham, who is regarded as the
founder of several religions that are still practiced today, including Judaism and

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Islam. It speaks a lot about their emotional condition at the time of viewing it
that the narrator of the poem chose someone who is so significant to his faith
to represent this beam of light. It makes reasonable to assume that they are
motivated by their affection for their companion and feel blessed in some way,
and that the gleam of sunshine serves as a sort of affirmation of that notion.

“And ever and anon, the wind,

Sweet-scented with the hay,
Turned o’er the hymn-book’s fluttering leaves
That on the window lay.”
More information is provided about the church's sounds and smells than is
typically found in memories. Details like the wind's brief but persistent presence,
the scent of hay it carried with it, and the open book on the window with its
fluttering pages would typically be too unimportant to remember. Once more,
the speaker's love for this specific day is evident, and Longfellow takes care to
explain the value of the recollection to his readers.

“Long was the good man’s sermon,

Yet it seemed not so to me;
For he spake of Ruth the beautiful,
And still I thought of thee.”
In both the Jewish and Christian Old Testaments, Ruth appears prominently in
the Bible. She is recognized as a selfless, devoted lady who deserves to be
remembered and honored. She is regarded in Christian tradition as Jesus'
earliest ancestor. Based on the high number of religious metaphors and ideas
that have been present in the work thus far, the speaker remembers this woman
he's met as being so wonderful that he cannot find interest in the story of a
lovely, strong, and loving woman who is a figure in a faith that they clearly care
a great deal about. These concepts are what make this one so important.

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“Long was the prayer he uttered,
Yet it seemed not so to me;
For in my heart I prayed with him,
And still I thought of thee.”
This line seems to say pretty much the same thing as the one that came before,
yet the repetition of the thought helps the plot. The speaker clearly underlines
the significance of this connection and expresses their extreme joy at having
met and attended church with this particular individual. For the speaker and the
author, the repetition of religious imagery, the idealized English, and the
modification of time passing are all crucial contributions.

“But now, alas! the place seems changed;

Thou art no longer here:
Part of the sunshine of the scene
With thee did disappear.”
Suddenly, the poem brings the reader back to the present while reinventing the
cover illustration. A relatively minor but significant part of this piece is played by
sunshine. It serves as a metaphor for kindness, hope, and divinity as well as
for a kind of holy nature to imply to the speaker that God is present. Less of
everything good in this place is there now that the sun is dimmer. The girl
vanishes without explanation, but it is obvious that the narrator does not think
she will come back. The location "looks" to have changed, yet it actually hasn't
changed since the previous time it was detailed in such detail in an earlier
stanza, according to the first line of the verse. We can now clearly observe the
impact that the angelic woman's mere presence had on the speaker's view of
everything she touched.

“Though thoughts, deep-rooted in my heart,

Like pine-trees dark and high,
Subdue the light of noon, and breathe
A low and ceaseless sigh;
–
This memory brightens o’er the past,

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As when the sun, concealed
Behind some cloud that near us hangs
Shines on a distant field.”
The poem's closing two verses combine effectively to provide a feeling of
closure and, most significantly, to restore optimism to the composition as a
whole. Nearly every image in this long poem up to this point, including deep
roots that are twisted and pale, pine trees that block out the sun and never lose
their shadow, and the concept of subduing, which is a highly negative term to
use, starkly contrasts with the speaker's feelings. All of these concepts take the
speaker out of the joyful and cheerful reminiscence and serve to remind the
reader that they are secretly dissatisfied in the present since they lost this great
woman.

Brief Background of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Longfellow started going to Portland Academy when he was only six years old.
He was regarded as a model student who did especially well in Latin. His
mother was the one who originally sparked his interest in literature. While his
father had bigger, more ambitious hopes for his son, she pushed him to read.
When he was just thirteen years old, in November 1870, Longfellow published
his first poem. Three years later, the young poet started attending Bowdoin
College in New Brunswick, Maine. It was titled "The Battle of Lovell's Pond."
This organization introduced Longfellow to Nathaniel Hawthorne, a fellow
author who would become a lifetime companion. Since Longfellow excelled in
languages, Bowdoin College gave him a job after he finished. He spent his own
money to go throughout Europe where he furthered his language skills before
accepting or rejecting the offer. He visited France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and
England during his travels. In August 1829, he arrived back in America. He was
able to pick up four languages during his successful travels, which helped him
in his new position as a professor. At first, he made the decision to turn down
the offer, but when the school's trustees upped his suggested compensation,
he changed his mind.
He spent a lot of time publishing poetry translations and translating textbooks
in the early 1830s. In addition, he published a travelogue titled "Outre-Mer: A

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Pilgrimage beyond the Sea." In 1831, Longfellow married Mary Storer Potter,
a companion from his youth, and over the following two years he published
further written works, both non-fiction and fiction. Another stroke of luck came
when Harvard University offered Longfellow a position. The only condition of
the offer was that he travel more and learn more German, Dutch, and
Scandinavian. His wife Mary experiences a miscarriage when they are touring
Europe, and she is unable to recover. A few weeks later, in November 1835,
she passed away. She would appear in his writings even after she passed
away. He returned from his journey in 1836 and started working at Harvard.
The author enjoyed a string of victories during the following three years.
Longfellow was a well-liked professor and a well-known figure in the literary
world when he released his first collection of poetry, "Voices of the Night," in
1839, along with his prose romance novel, "Hyperion." He met Frances
Appleton around this time, and they soon started dating. The intended
partnership did not start off well because Frances had no interest in getting
married. 'Ballads and Other Poems' appeared in 1841, after the works of 1839.
Many of these poems, including "Wreck of the Hesperus," quickly gained
popularity. In 1842, Longfellow traveled to Europe once more, and over the
following two years, he released "The Spanish Student: A Play in Three Acts"
and "Poems on Slavery."
Frances Appleton ultimately consented to marry him after seven years of
courtship. They got married right away and had six kids together. Longfellow
began making a good living from his writing in the late 1840s, and he left
Harvard in the 1850s. However, Longfellow's good fortune did not last, and on
a particularly hot day in 1861, Frances was the victim of a terrible accident. She
suffered severe burns after her garment caught fire. The following morning, she
passed away with her husband by her side. Longfellow, who was also burned
in the tragedy, decided to grow a beard for the remainder of his life to cover up
his burn scars. After she passed away, the writer was never the same and
turned to narcotics to help him with his depression.
The "Divine Comedy" of Dante was the subject of Longfellow's subsequent
literary endeavor, which was published in 1867. His annual revenue increased
as the book was printed numerous times. The highest amount ever paid for a

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single poem was $3000 when he sold one of them in 1874. Longfellow's health
began to deteriorate in March of 1882. Before passing away on March 24th,
1882, he endured a number of days of excruciating anguish. Later it was found
that he had peritonitis, an inflammation of the lining of the abdomen. In
Cambridge, Massachusetts' Mount Auburn Cemetery, he is interred next to
both of his wives.

Analysis
4.1 Diction
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow uses words that are easy to understand
and comprehensible. He didn’t focus on the metaphorical type of writings,
instead he proceeded with a writing style that is more similar to that who’s
simply telling a story.
The poet alludes her passing to the sun setting, leaving the world in darkness
and gloom, but finds some comfort in the idea that memories of her are like the
sparkle of a sunbeam emerging from behind a cloud.
4.2 Imagery
A Gleam of Sunshine is one of the poems out there with a lot of beautiful
imagery, the first example we got is from the line “Through the closed blinds the
golden sun, poured in a dusty beam”, here the author refers to the rays of the
sun shined to the closed blinds like dusty beams, we can refer to the imagery
used on this part was the sense of sight, as the author got to describe to the
readers what he have seen.
“And ever and anon, the wind, Sweet-scented with the hay”, on this other
example, the author describes the smell of the church where the wind goes
around and when it gone, and the smeel of the hay that the air brings everytime
it comes, surely nothing on the authors surrounding was left undescribed.
4.3 Symbol
In this poem of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, he uses Ruth, a devoted and
helpless lady who deserves to be honored. He uses Ruth to describe the
woman he was referring to on the poem. “Long was the good man’s sermon,
yet it seemed not so to me, For he spake of Ruth the beautiful, And still I thought
of thee.” He recalls the ceremony and says how it was difficult for him to focus

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on the topic of the prayers or speech because of memories of someone who
has passed away (likely Mary).
On the second example we have the lines, “Thy dress was like the lilies, And
thy heart as pure as they: One of God’s holy messengers, Did walk with me
that day.” We can see here how the author smoothly compares the dress and
the heart to a lilies, giving the impression that the woman that the author was
referring to does have good qualities.

4.4 Rhythm and Rhyme

If there’s one thing that stands out from the poem a Gleam of Sunshine that is
the flow of this masterpiece. Each line in the accompanying verses is nearly the
same length, the rhyme scheme of ABCB is consistent, and none of the rhymes
are forced. Take for example the first stanza of the poem.
“This is the place. Stand still, my steed,
Let me review the scene,
And summon from the shadowy past
The forms that once have been”
Notice the second and last line of this stanza, they rhyme with each other, but
not the first and the third line. Tis rhyme scheme flows all throughout the whole
poem, thus making this poem a good one. The same thing also goes on the
12th stanza of the poem.
“But now, alas! The place seems changed;
Thou art no longer here:
Part of the sunshine of the scene
With thee did disappear.”
Here’s another example for our rhyme scheming on this poem, this thirteenth
stanza of the poem also shows the consistency of the rhyming of the author.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Wadsworth-Longfellow

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