|
[1] 2
Comment 19 of 19, added on November 2nd, 2009 at 8:43 PM.
My first son was born about 37 years ago at 22 weeks of my third pregnancy.
I had lost the first two babies at an earlier stage. I have always loved
Longfellow and on rereading this poem felt that it addressed my pain. I
memorized it and it really got me through a lot of pain. Since that time,
I have passed copies of the poem to several friends who have lost loved
ones. I have always believed that the poem was written to honor the
feelings of love that a mother or father have. However, it can be
interpreted in a broader sense. Tomorrow I am giving a copy to a friend
who lost a beloved daughter-in-law to cancer in her middle thirties.
Mary Ann Schneider from United States
Comment 18 of 19, added on June 25th, 2009 at 5:43 PM.
Frnkly I fine the born again christian reference almost insulting. Firstly
the poem is about the loss of a child which is surely the toughest of any
loss and a child, be definition, has not the capacity to accept, lose and
then reaccept a religous theology. It is a very moving poem that transends
sectarian or theocratic positions. The bearded grain is clearly a reference
to those mature lives that are taken as a matter of harvest - the reach to
make this non believers only is isulting to the beauty of the poem, the
poet and anyone with an grain of independent thought.
Liam Buckley from United States
Comment 17 of 19, added on April 20th, 2009 at 7:38 PM.
This is my very favorite poem because it illicited more feeling from me
than any poem I've ever read. If words on paper can get tears out of a
human, there is something very special about those words. They are capable
of touching the very soul. I love reading the poem. It's not only a
beautiful poem, but the words touch together in a very beautiful way. My,
my, my. What a beautiful thing is man. Truly God's crowning achievement.
Tami from United States
Comment 16 of 19, added on August 17th, 2008 at 5:25 PM.
This is a beautiful, bittersweet poem. I see it as a tribute to all the
children who die before their time has come. It was obviously not
flippantly written and so shouldn't be taken lightly.
Sarah from New Zealand
Comment 15 of 19, added on April 13th, 2007 at 1:35 AM.
Yes, it truly is hard to accept the death of a loved one at first. But this
poem is sooo beautiful i shared it with my friend who recently lost her
baby and it helped her deal a lot. I love this poem.
Christy
Comment 14 of 19, added on April 9th, 2006 at 9:05 PM.
I'm not sure how anyone manages to see a "born-again" Christian inference
in here... the implication is clearly towards children who die before their
time. This seems to be more proof to me that religion exists as an
explanation for that which appears particularly unpleasant or perplexing.
Is it that hard to accept that sometimes people die?
Jake from United States
Comment 13 of 19, added on December 3rd, 2005 at 9:35 AM.
I chose this poem for my English class and had to do an analysis on it.
I've had to think a ton about this and I really think I have it. I think
the flowers represent Born Again Christians and the sadness it is for God
to literally kill them. But we see that it's His plan and ultimately His
plan is perfect. I think the Reaper is an angel from God, the fields of
light is heaven, and the "bearded grain" are non-believers and the people
of this world who will ultimately die and are not promised eternal life. I
think the mother is Chirst and the "tears and pain," is the suffering He
did on the cross at calvary.
Eric from United States
Comment 12 of 19, added on October 18th, 2005 at 1:14 PM.
woo hoo reapers! fun stuff i tell ya!
jenny
Comment 11 of 19, added on September 5th, 2005 at 3:24 PM.
I just read the poem about five minutes ago. For the first time in my life,
tears were streaming down my cheeks due to the sheer beauty of the verse
and the what I felt was the meaning. All of the symbolism and the comments
about the Lord of Paradise, and the mother that gave the flowers she loved
the most lends itself to the fact that this poem was about Jesus and the
day the reaper came for him to take him home. Along with with Jesus, he
takes nearby flowers for the father...i feel it's order to ease the pain of
God who as stated in the poem was a child on this earth. Longfellow is
beyond a doubt, wonderful.
Natalka from United States
Comment 10 of 19, added on June 23rd, 2005 at 7:15 PM.
We just returned from Boston and took the time
to travel to Cambridge and tour the Longfellow house.
Longfellow's beloved wife, Frances Appleton Longfellow tragically
died in 1861. She was helping her two young daughters and unfortunately
was using hot wax on a project. Her dress caught fire.
Longfellow tried desperately to put the fire out and his face and hands
were burned. His dear Frences died from the fire. The two young daughters
were ages 5 and 7 at the time. Longfellow never remarried and lived with
his six children in the same house. His oldest daughter never married and
took care of her father until his death in 1882. This poem shows how
sensitive Longfellow was to many subjects including death. He wrote a poem
about his wife but he never published it. It was too heartwrentching for
him. It has just recently been released for publication. The Longfellow
house is a National Historic Site. You can get information on the
Longfellow House publication at www.eParks.com It is well worth the trip
to visit
this site where General George Washington lived and planned his
Revolutionary War strategies from 1775-1776. Taking the docent tour makes
Longfellows poems come alive. You will really understand them better if
you immerse yourself in the history of the place and the man and his
family.
Gail from United States
This poem has been commented on more than 10 times. Click below to see the other comments.
[1] 2
|
My first son was born about 37 years ago at 22 weeks of my third pregnancy.
I had lost the first two babies at an earlier stage. I have always loved
Longfellow and on rereading this poem felt that it addressed my pain. I
memorized it and it really got me through a lot of pain. Since that time,
I have passed copies of the poem to several friends who have lost loved
ones. I have always believed that the poem was written to honor the
feelings of love that a mother or father have. However, it can be
interpreted in a broader sense. Tomorrow I am giving a copy to a friend
who lost a beloved daughter-in-law to cancer in her middle thirties.
Mary Ann Schneider from United States