FLIGHT THE SECOND.
The Children’s Hour
Enceladus
The Cumberland
Snow-Flakes
A Day of Sunshine
Something left Undone
Weariness
The Annotated Edition
FLIGHT THE SECOND. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Flight the Second is a collection of seven poems by Longfellow, brought together in his anthology *Birds of Passage*.
§01Quick summary
What this poem is about
Flight the Second is a collection of seven poems by Longfellow, brought together in his anthology *Birds of Passage*. Imagine it as a playlist: each poem stands alone like a song, yet they all connect through a shared mood of quiet reflection on time, loss, and the small moments that shape our lives. Longfellow employs the metaphor of birds in flight to convey that these poems — along with the emotions they evoke — are transient, just as everything else in life.
§02Themes
Recurring themes
§03Line by line
Stanza by stanza, with notes
The Children's Hour
Editor's note
This poem depicts a heartfelt evening tradition as Longfellow's daughters rush into his study for their nightly visit. It serves as the emotional core for the family—a father preserving a fleeting moment of genuine domestic happiness, fully aware it won’t last. The children transform into cherished captives of his heart, safely held within a stronghold of love and reminiscence.
Enceladus
Editor's note
Drawing from the Greek myth of the Titan Enceladus, who is buried under Mount Etna and continues to struggle, Longfellow uses this imagery to illustrate the restless creative spirit that can't be stifled, no matter how much pressure is placed on it. The volcanic eruptions serve as a metaphor for the artist's unstoppable urge to express themselves.
The Cumberland
Editor's note
A tribute to the USS Cumberland, a Union warship that sank in 1862 after being attacked by the Confederate ironclad *Virginia*. Longfellow pays homage to the sailors who stood their ground and refused to surrender as their ship went down, transforming a naval defeat into a tale of unwavering bravery. The sight of the ship sinking with its flag still flying becomes one of the collection's most striking symbols of dignity in the face of death.
Snow-Flakes
Editor's note
Longfellow observes the snow falling and interprets it as nature's expression of grief — the sky crying in white. Each flake represents a thought, a sorrow, a secret that the heavens are releasing to the earth. It forms a quiet, melancholic poem that portrays the natural world as emotionally vibrant and always in dialogue with human emotions.
A Day of Sunshine
Editor's note
This poem stands out against the darker themes around it, celebrating a rare and simple day filled with brightness and warmth. Longfellow isn't blind to the fact that these days won't last — he understands their fleeting nature — but he emphasizes embracing the gift wholeheartedly instead of lamenting its end before it arrives. It's a small gesture of gratitude within the collection.
Something left Undone
Editor's note
A brief, witty reflection on that nagging sensation that, no matter how much you achieve, something inevitably falls by the wayside. Longfellow gives this feeling life as a relentless shadow that trails behind each day until it ends. It's a deeply relatable experience — the to-do list that never really gets completed.
Weariness
Editor's note
The closing poem of the flight settles into exhaustion — not a dramatic despair, but that deep-down tiredness that comes from truly living and feeling it all. It serves as a natural pause in the sequence, like a sigh at the end of a long day. This weariness feels almost tender, reflecting that the speaker has sincerely engaged with his life.
§04Tone & mood
How this poem feels
The overall tone of *Flight the Second* flows like a single long breath — it begins with warmth and intimacy, transitions through defiance and grief, captures a moment of sunshine, and gently exhales into quiet exhaustion. Longfellow never raises his voice. Even the war poem carries a stately grace rather than fury. The prevailing emotion throughout all seven pieces reflects a man who has experienced enough to understand that beauty and loss come hand in hand, and who has found a measure of peace with that reality.
§05Symbols & metaphors
Symbols & metaphors
- Birds in flight
- The main metaphor of the *Birds of Passage* collection suggests that poems, emotions, and life's moments are like migratory birds — they come and go, and we can't hold onto them. The title 'Flight the Second' emphasizes that these are just waypoints along the journey, not final destinations.
- The sinking ship (Cumberland)
- The USS Cumberland sinking with its flag still flying represents an enduring honor that transcends defeat. It suggests that the way you confront the end is more important than the outcome of survival.
- Snow-flakes
- Each falling flake symbolizes a sorrow or an unvoiced thought drifting down from the sky. Snow transforms into a language for grief that's too subtle and soft to be shared in any other manner.
- The children in the study
- Longfellow's daughters storming into his study symbolize the fleeting sweetness of childhood and a parent's yearning to pause time. They are 'prisoners' of his love — forever captured in his memory as they inevitably grow apart from him.
- Enceladus under the mountain
- The buried Titan represents the creative or spiritual force that can’t be permanently held back. Struggle and eruption are the costs of being alive and passionate.
- Weariness at day's end
- The tiredness that concludes the sequence isn't a sign of defeat; it's proof of deep engagement with life. Rest that comes from true emotion is shown as a form of grace in itself.
§06Historical context
Historical context
Longfellow published *Birds of Passage* as a series of poem-groupings scattered throughout his larger collections, starting in the 1850s. *Flight the Second* was included in his 1863 collection *Tales of a Wayside Inn* — a time when Longfellow was dealing with profound personal sorrow. His wife Fanny had died in a fire in 1861, and the Civil War was tearing the nation apart. His son Charley enlisted to fight for the Union without his father's approval. In this context, the seven poems of *Flight the Second* reflect a man striving to hold onto beauty (his daughters, a sunny day) while confronting loss, war, fatigue, and the unyielding passage of time. The 'birds of passage' concept allows Longfellow to bring together poems with varying moods without forcing them into a contrived unity.
§07FAQ
Questions readers ask
It refers to the second group in Longfellow's ongoing series titled *Birds of Passage*. Similar to how birds migrate in successive waves or 'flights,' Longfellow arranged his shorter lyric poems into numbered flights across various collections. 'Second' indicates that this is the second gathering of these poems.
Both, really. Each poem exists on its own and was created independently. However, Longfellow intentionally arranged them to engage in a conversation — transitioning from domestic warmth to myth, war, nature, and ultimately exhaustion. Reading them in order provides an emotional journey that you won't get from reading them separately.
Because the Civil War was a reality for Longfellow — he was experiencing it while being a father, watching the snow fall, and feeling worn out at the end of the day. By placing 'The Cumberland' alongside his domestic and nature-themed poems, he shows how war disrupts everyday life instead of being confined to a distant heroic narrative.
In Greek mythology, Enceladus was a Titan who was defeated by the gods and buried alive beneath Mount Etna. His struggles are believed to cause the volcano's eruptions. Longfellow draws on this image to discuss the creative or spiritual energy that can't be permanently suppressed — regardless of how much burden society or circumstance places upon it, it will always find a way to emerge.
Yes, that's correct. Longfellow wrote it about his three daughters — Edith, Alice, and Allegra — who would often interrupt his evening writing sessions. This poem is among his most personal works, with the details (the names, the study, the staircase) coming directly from his home life at Craigie House in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
It evokes a mood of gentle, almost cozy melancholy. Longfellow achieves this by portraying the snow not just as a weather phenomenon but as an emotional experience — the sky is mourning, and the flakes represent its tears or whispered secrets. This approach makes the natural world feel as introspective and emotional as the speaker himself.
Because Longfellow is being honest instead of simply reassuring. The sequence has journeyed through joy, myth, war, grief, and gratitude — and the natural conclusion of that journey is tiredness. Ending on weariness isn't pessimistic; it recognizes that being truly alive and feeling deeply is genuinely exhausting, and there’s dignity in acknowledging that.
It explains how to hold them. Birds of passage are migratory—they come, they have significance, and they continue their journey. By labeling his lyrics with that term, Longfellow suggests that these poems focus on the fleeting nature of life: moments, emotions, and people that flow through our lives and can't be held onto. This framing transforms a set of individual poems into a reflection on impermanence.
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