The Annotated Edition
A woman wearing mourning attire — black gloves and a pale veil — is actually using these accessories to seduce rather than to grieve.
Study actions
§01Quick summary
§02Themes
§03Line by line
Glove of black in white hand bare, / And about her forehead pale
Editor's note
The poem starts in the middle of a scene, revealing details gradually. The black glove resting on a bare white hand immediately suggests something is amiss—mourning attire is there, but the hand is *bare*, lacking full coverage. The pale forehead conveys a sense of theatrical delicacy instead of authentic sorrow.
Wound a thin, transparent veil, / That doth not conceal her hair;
Editor's note
A mourning veil traditionally hides the face, but this one is transparent and barely covers the hair — it serves as decoration rather than concealment. Longfellow subtly critiques the mourning attire by revealing that it is meant to be seen through, both literally and figuratively.
Sovereign attitude and air, / Cheek and neck alike displayed
Editor's note
The word *sovereign* is crucial — she exudes the presence of a queen in command, rather than a widow in sorrow. Her cheek and neck are intentionally visible, contrasting sharply with the modesty that mourning attire was intended to convey in 19th-century societal norms.
With coquettish charms arrayed, / Laughing eyes and fugitive;--
Editor's note
Any remaining pretense of grief falls apart here. *Coquettish* clearly describes flirtation, and *laughing eyes* back that up. *Fugitive* implies her glances dart away playfully — a classic move from someone who craves attention while acting as if they’re not paying attention in return.
This is killing men that live, / 'T is not mourning for the dead.
Editor's note
The closing couplet expresses the entire argument of the poem in just two lines. The phrase *killing men that live* turns expectations on their head—she isn't mourning a death; instead, she's *causing* a different kind of death through her desire. The juxtaposition of the living men she slays with her allure and the dead she feigns to mourn forms the poem's main joke and delivers its moral bite.
§04Tone & mood
§05Symbols & metaphors
§06Form & structure
§07Historical context
§08FAQ
A woman at what seems to be a mourning event — dressed in black gloves and a veil — is clearly more focused on drawing attention than on mourning. The poem concludes by stating that her actions are killing the living men around her instead of honoring the dead.
It’s a metaphor for the allure of seduction. The notion that a beautiful woman can slay men with her appearance was a popular idea in poetry. Longfellow uses it here as a punchline: rather than grieving a death, she is bringing about a different kind of demise through desire.
Because a mourning veil that you can see through undermines its own purpose. Longfellow uses this detail to illustrate that the woman's mourning outfit is merely for appearances — it has the look of grief without any real depth.
It’s satirical without being harsh. Longfellow's tone leans more towards amusement than condemnation. He’s playfully mocking the way society performs mourning, and you can sense a thread of real admiration for the woman's confidence throughout the poem.
Here fugitive means fleeting or darting away quickly. Her glances are playful and evasive—she looks then quickly turns away, a classic gesture of flirtation. This reinforces the feeling that she is vibrant and fully engaged with the world around her.
It feels like a translation or a close adaptation of a short, sharp poem from the French or Spanish tradition—brief poems about women wearing mourning attire for show were quite popular in earlier European poetry. Longfellow translated many works and frequently engaged with this style.
It consists of a single ten-line stanza written in trochaic tetrameter, giving it a quick, clipped rhythm that feels almost like a list of observations. The rhyme scheme is ABBAACCDDC, lending a tight, epigrammatic quality. The final couplet delivers a sharp, deliberate conclusion.
It shows that she carries herself with complete confidence and authority — more like a queen than a mourner. Sovereign is a powerful choice; it implies she commands the room and is aware of it, contrasting sharply with the humble, reserved posture required by 19th-century mourning etiquette.
Citation
MLA
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "Glove of Black in White Hand Bare." Storgy, https://storgy.com/poems/glove-of-black-in-white-hand-bare-henry-wadsworth-longfellow/.
APA
Longfellow, H. W. (n.d.). Glove of black in white hand bare. Storgy. https://storgy.com/poems/glove-of-black-in-white-hand-bare-henry-wadsworth-longfellow/
Teaching materials and reference tools prepared for this poem.
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