CHORUS OF THE EUMENIDES. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
This poem portrays the Eumenides — the ancient Greek goddesses of vengeance — cautioning that divine secrets should remain unspoken, as the gods will pursue anyone who dares to break that silence.
The poem
What the Immortals Confide to thy keeping, Tell unto no man; Waking or sleeping, Closed be thy portals To friend as to foeman. Silence conceals it; The word that is spoken Betrays and reveals it; By breath or by token The charm may be broken. With shafts of their splendors The Gods unforgiving Pursue the offenders, The dead and the living! Fortune forsakes them, Nor earth shall abide them, Nor Tartarus hide them; Swift wrath overtakes them! With useless endeavor, Forever, forever, Is Sisyphus rolling His stone up the mountain! Immersed in the fountain, Tantalus tastes not The water that wastes not! Through ages increasing The pangs that afflict him, With motion unceasing The wheel of Ixion Shall torture its victim! VI
This poem portrays the Eumenides — the ancient Greek goddesses of vengeance — cautioning that divine secrets should remain unspoken, as the gods will pursue anyone who dares to break that silence. The punishment is everlasting: the poem concludes with three well-known figures from Greek mythology, Sisyphus, Tantalus, and Ixion, each enduring their own perpetual suffering. It serves as a reminder that some rules come with consequences that never cease.
Line-by-line
What the Immortals / Confide to thy keeping,
Silence conceals it; / The word that is spoken
With shafts of their splendors / The Gods unforgiving
With useless endeavor, / Forever, forever,
Tone & mood
The tone is serious, incantatory, and relentless. Longfellow employs short, driving lines that resemble a chant or a ritual warning — the rhythm echoes the unyielding turning of Ixion's wheel. There's no warmth or sympathy for the offender. The voice feels collective and impersonal, adding to the unsettling nature: it's not just one angry god speaking; it's a chorus of inevitable justice.
Symbols & metaphors
- The unspoken secret — The divine secret is sacred knowledge — a truth that holds significance because it remains hidden. Holding onto it shows loyalty and respect, while sharing it feels like a violation.
- Sisyphus and his boulder — The boulder represents the endless, fruitless toil that serves as punishment. No matter how much effort is put in, nothing is ever achieved — it perfectly illustrates divine retribution, leaving the offender without any sense of progress or the chance to find rest.
- Tantalus in the fountain — The receding water symbolizes an endless, unfulfilled longing. The punishment isn't pain in the usual way; it's the agony of being near what you need yet never able to grasp it.
- The wheel of Ixion — The spinning wheel symbolizes relentless, mechanical suffering—an impersonal punishment that keeps going, much like a machine that can't be turned off. It robs the victim of their dignity and sense of control.
- Tartarus — The deepest pit of the Greek underworld, Tartarus, is mentioned here to illustrate that even death offers no escape. It symbolizes the relentless nature of divine justice — there's no place, in life or beyond, where the guilty can find refuge.
Historical context
Longfellow included this poem in his 1856 collection *Poems of Places* and it reflects his ongoing interest in classical themes. The Eumenides, also known as the Furies or Erinyes, were the Greek goddesses of vengeance, responsible for punishing those who broke sacred oaths or divine laws. They are most famously depicted in Aeschylus's *Oresteia*, where they relentlessly pursue Orestes for killing his mother. Longfellow was well-versed in classical literature and often drew on Greek mythology to explore moral and philosophical ideas in his work. By presenting the poem as a choral song, he mirrors the format of Greek tragedy, where the chorus expressed shared wisdom and divine principles. The "VI" label indicates that this poem is part of a larger sequence of dramatic or lyrical pieces.
FAQ
The Eumenides are the Greek goddesses of vengeance, often called the Furies or Erinyes. Their name translates to "the kindly ones," a respectful term the Greeks used to prevent provoking their wrath. They enforced punishment for crimes that disrupted the natural order, particularly breaches of sacred oaths and family ties. Aeschylus featured them prominently in his play *The Eumenides*, which is the concluding part of the *Oresteia* trilogy.
Keep divine secrets, or suffer eternal punishment. This poem serves as a warning from the Eumenides themselves: sacred knowledge should never be revealed, as the gods are merciless and their influence goes beyond death. The three mythological figures at the end—Sisyphus, Tantalus, and Ixion—illustrate precisely what "eternal punishment" entails.
The short, clipped lines make the poem feel like a ritual chant or incantation. They create a relentless, drumbeat rhythm that reflects the idea of unending punishment. This also resonates with the meter of Greek choral odes, which Longfellow intentionally mimicked by framing the poem as a chorus.
All three are figures from Greek mythology who are punished with eternal torment in Tartarus. Sisyphus tricked death and was condemned to endlessly roll a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down each time. Tantalus angered the gods and found himself standing in water beneath fruit trees, with both the water and fruit slipping away whenever he tried to grasp them. Ixion betrayed Zeus's hospitality and was chained to a spinning wheel of fire for all eternity.
It means the secret can be revealed in two ways: by actually saying it out loud ("by breath") or by providing some indirect sign or hint ("by token"). The warning applies to all types of disclosure — you can't escape it by being subtle or indirect.
Tartarus is the deepest section of the Greek underworld, reserved for the most notorious offenders. When we say that Tartarus cannot hide the guilty, it implies that even death and the afterlife provide no refuge from divine punishment. The gods' influence is absolute — there's no place to escape, whether in this life or the next.
The "VI" at the end of the poem indicates it was part of a numbered series, probably a larger dramatic or lyrical cycle that Longfellow was developing. It directly references Aeschylus's *Oresteia*, especially the third play, *The Eumenides*, and Longfellow might have been crafting his own loose adaptation or response to that trilogy.
At its core, the poem explores justice — particularly the kind of divine, retributive justice that you can't escape or appeal against. It also delves into themes of betrayal (the violation of a sacred trust), mortality (the punishment lingers even after death), and despair (the endless, hopeless suffering faced by figures like Sisyphus, Tantalus, and Ixion).