SERENADE. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Summary, Meaning & Analysis

Stars of the summer night! Far in yon azure deeps, Hide, hide your golden light! She sleeps! My lady sleeps! Sleeps! Moon of the summer night! Far down yon western steeps, Sink, sink in silver light! She sleeps! My lady sleeps! Sleeps! Wind of the summer night! Where yonder woodbine creeps, Fold, fold thy pinions light! She sleeps! My lady sleeps! Sleeps! Dreams of the summer night! Tell her, her lover keeps Watch! while in slumbers light She sleeps My lady sleeps Sleeps! (Enter VICTORIAN by the balcony.) Vict. Poor little dove! Thou tremblest like a leaf! Prec. I am so frightened! 'T is for thee I tremble! I hate to have thee climb that wall by night! Did no one see thee? Vict. None, my love, but thou. Prec. 'T is very dangerous; and when thou art gone I chide myself for letting thee come here Thus stealthily by night. Where hast thou been? Since yesterday I have no news from thee. Vict. Since yesterday I have been in Alcala. Erelong the time will come, sweet Preciosa, When that dull distance shall no more divide us; And I no more shall scale thy wall by night To steal a kiss from thee, as I do now. Prec. An honest thief, to steal but what thou givest. Vict. And we shall sit together unmolested, And words of true love pass from tongue to tongue, As singing birds from one bough to another. Prec. That were a life to make time envious! I knew that thou wouldst come to me to-night. I saw thee at the play. Vict. Sweet child of air! Never did I behold thee so attired And garmented in beauty as to-night! What hast thou done to make thee look so fair? Prec. Am I not always fair? Vict. Ay, and so fair That I am jealous of all eyes that see thee, And wish that they were blind. Prec. I heed them not; When thou art present, I see none but thee! Vict. There's nothing fair nor beautiful, but takes Something from thee, that makes it beautiful. Prec. And yet thou leavest me for those dusty books. Vict. Thou comest between me and those books too often! I see thy face in everything I see! The paintings in the chapel wear thy looks, The canticles are changed to sarabands, And with the leaned doctors of the schools I see thee dance cachuchas. Prec. In good sooth, I dance with learned doctors of the schools To-morrow morning. Vict. And with whom, I pray? Prec. A grave and reverend Cardinal, and his Grace The Archbishop of Toledo. Vict. What mad jest Is this? Prec. It is no jest; indeed it is not. Vict. Prithee, explain thyself. Prec. Why, simply thus. Thou knowest the Pope has sent here into Spain To put a stop to dances on the stage. Vict. I have heard it whispered. Prec. Now the Cardinal, Who for this purpose comes, would fain behold With his own eyes these dances; and the Archbishop Has sent for me-- Vict. That thou mayst dance before them! Now viva la cachucha! It will breathe The fire of youth into these gray old men! 'T will be thy proudest conquest! Prec. Saving one. And yet I fear these dances will be stopped, And Preciosa be once more a beggar. Vict. The sweetest beggar that e'er asked for alms; With such beseeching eyes, that when I saw thee I gave my heart away! Prec. Dost thou remember When first we met? Vict. It was at Cordova, In the cathedral garden. Thou wast sitting Under the orange-trees, beside a fountain. Prec. 'T was Easter-Sunday. The full-blossomed trees Filled all the air with fragrance and with joy. The priests were singing, and the organ sounded, And then anon the great cathedral bell. It was the elevation of the Host. We both of us fell down upon our knees, Under the orange boughs, and prayed together. I never had been happy till that moment. Vict. Thou blessed angel! Prec. And when thou wast gone I felt an acting here. I did not speak To any one that day. But from that day Bartolome grew hateful unto me. Vict. Remember him no more. Let not his shadow Come between thee and me. Sweet Preciosa! I loved thee even then, though I was silent! Prec. I thought I ne'er should see thy face again. Thy farewell had a sound of sorrow in it. Vict. That was the first sound in the song of love! Scarce more than silence is, and yet a sound. Hands of invisible spirits touch the strings Of that mysterious instrument, the soul, And play the prelude of our fate. We hear The voice prophetic, and are not alone. Prec. That is my faith. Dust thou believe these warnings? Vict. So far as this. Our feelings and our thoughts Tend ever on, and rest not in the Present. As drops of rain fall into some dark well, And from below comes a scarce audible sound, So fall our thoughts into the dark Hereafter, And their mysterious echo reaches us. Prec. I have felt it so, but found no words to say it! I cannot reason; I can only feel! But thou hast language for all thoughts and feelings. Thou art a scholar; and sometimes I think We cannot walk together in this world! The distance that divides us is too great! Henceforth thy pathway lies among the stars; I must not hold thee back. Vict. Thou little sceptic! Dost thou still doubt? What I most prize in woman Is her affections, not her intellect! The intellect is finite; but the affections Are infinite, and cannot be exhausted. Compare me with the great men of the earth; What am I? Why, a pygmy among giants! But if thou lovest,--mark me! I say lovest, The greatest of thy sex excels thee not! The world of the affections is thy world, Not that of man's ambition. In that stillness Which most becomes a woman, calm and holy, Thou sittest by the fireside of the heart, Feeding its flame. The element of fire Is pure. It cannot change nor hide its nature, But burns as brightly in a Gypsy camp As in a palace hall. Art thou convinced? Prec. Yes, that I love thee, as the good love heaven; But not that I am worthy of that heaven. How shall I more deserve it? Vict. Loving more. Prec. I cannot love thee more; my heart is full. Vict. Then let it overflow, and I will drink it, As in the summer-time the thirsty sands Drink the swift waters of the Manzanares, And still do thirst for more. A Watchman (in the street). Ave Maria Purissima! 'T is midnight and serene! Vict. Hear'st thou that cry? Prec. It is a hateful sound, To scare thee from me! Vict. As the hunter's horn Doth scare the timid stag, or bark of hounds The moor-fowl from his mate. Prec. Pray, do not go! Vict. I must away to Alcala to-night. Think of me when I am away. Prec. Fear not! I have no thoughts that do not think of thee. Vict. (giving her a ring). And to remind thee of my love, take this; A serpent, emblem of Eternity; A ruby,--say, a drop of my heart's blood. Prec. It is an ancient saying, that the ruby Brings gladness to the wearer, and preserves The heart pure, and, if laid beneath the pillow, Drives away evil dreams. But then, alas! It was a serpent tempted Eve to sin. Vict. What convent of barefooted Carmelites Taught thee so much theology? Prec. (laying her hand upon his mouth). Hush! hush! Good night! and may all holy angels guard thee! Vict. Good night! good night! Thou art my guardian angel! I have no other saint than thou to pray to! (He descends by the balcony.) Prec. Take care, and do not hurt thee. Art thou safe? Vict. (from the garden). Safe as my love for thee! But art thou safe? Others can climb a balcony by moonlight As well as I. Pray shut thy window close; I am jealous of the perfumed air of night That from this garden climbs to kiss thy lips. Prec. (throwing down her handkerchief). Thou silly child! Take this to blind thine eyes. It is my benison! Vict. And brings to me Sweet fragrance from thy lips, as the soft wind Wafts to the out-bound mariner the breath Of the beloved land he leaves behind. Prec. Make not thy voyage long. Vict. To-morrow night Shall see me safe returned. Thou art the star To guide me to an anchorage. Good night! My beauteous star! My star of love, good night! Prec. Good night! Watchman (at a distance). Ave Maria Purissima! Scene IV. -- An inn on the road to Alcala. BALTASAR asleep on a bench. Enter CHISPA. Chispa. And here we are, halfway to Alcala, between cocks and midnight. Body o' me! what an inn this is! The lights out, and the landlord asleep. Hola! ancient Baltasar! Bal. (waking). Here I am. Chispa. Yes, there you are, like a one-eyed Alcalde in a town without inhabitants. Bring a light, and let me have supper. Bal. Where is your master? Chispo. Do not trouble yourself about him. We have stopped a moment to breathe our horses; and, if he chooses to walk up and down in the open air, looking into the sky as one who hears it rain, that does not satisfy my hunger, you know. But be quick, for I am in a hurry, and every man stretches his legs according to the length of his coverlet. What have we here? Bal. (setting a light on the table). Stewed rabbit. Chispa (eating). Conscience of Portalegre! Stewed kitten, you mean! Bal. And a pitcher of Pedro Ximenes, with a roasted pear in it. Chispa (drinking). Ancient Baltasar, amigo! You know how to cry wine and sell vinegar. I tell you this is nothing but Vino Tinto of La Mancha, with a tang of the swine-skin. Bal. I swear to you by Saint Simon and Judas, it is all as I say. Chispa. And I swear to you by Saint Peter and Saint Paul, that it is no such thing. Moreover, your supper is like the hidalgo's dinner, very little meat and a great deal of tablecloth. Bal. Ha! ha! ha! Chispa. And more noise than nuts. Bal. Ha! ha! ha! You must have your joke, Master Chispa. But shall I not ask Don Victorian in, to take a draught of the Pedro Ximenes? Chispa. No; you might as well say, "Don't-you-want-some?" to a dead man. Bal. Why does he go so often to Madrid? Chispa. For the same reason that he eats no supper. He is in love. Were you ever in love, Baltasar? Bal. I was never out of it, good Chispa. It has been the torment of my life. Chispa. What! are you on fire, too, old hay-stack? Why, we shall never be able to put you out. Vict. (without). Chispa! Chispa. Go to bed, Pero Grullo, for the cocks are crowing. Vict. Ea! Chispa! Chispa! Chispa. Ea! Senor. Come with me, ancient Baltasar, and bring water for the horses. I will pay for the supper tomorrow. [Exeunt. SCENE V. -- VICTORIAN'S chambers at Alcala. HYPOLITO asleep in an arm-chair. He awakes slowly. Hyp. I must have been asleep! ay, sound asleep! And it was all a dream. O sleep, sweet sleep Whatever form thou takest, thou art fair, Holding unto our lips thy goblet filled Out of Oblivion's well, a healing draught! The candles have burned low; it must be late. Where can Victorian be? Like Fray Carrillo, The only place in which one cannot find him Is his own cell. Here's his guitar, that seldom Feels the caresses of its master's hand. Open thy silent lips, sweet instrument! And make dull midnight merry with a song. (He plays and sings.) Padre Francisco! Padre Francisco! What do you want of Padre Francisco? Here is a pretty young maiden Who wants to confess her sins! Open the door and let her come in, I will shrive her from every sin. (Enter VICTORIAN.) Vict. Padre Hypolito! Padre Hypolito! Hyp. What do you want of Padre Hypolito? Vict. Come, shrive me straight; for, if love be a sin, I am the greatest sinner that doth live. I will confess the sweetest of all crimes, A maiden wooed and won. Hyp. The same old tale Of the old woman in the chimney-corner, Who, while the pot boils, says, "Come here, my child; I'll tell thee a story of my wedding-day." Vict. Nay, listen, for my heart is full; so full That I must speak. Hyp. Alas! that heart of thine Is like a scene in the old play; the curtain Rises to solemn music, and lo! enter The eleven thousand virgins of Cologne! Vict. Nay, like the Sibyl's volumes, thou shouldst say; Those that remained, after the six were burned, Being held more precious than the nine together. But listen to my tale. Dost thou remember The Gypsy girl we saw at Cordova Dance the Romalis in the market-place? Hyp. Thou meanest Preciosa. Vict. Ay, the same. Thou knowest how her image haunted me Long after we returned to Alcala. She's in Madrid. Hyp. I know it. Vict. And I'm in love. Hyp. And therefore in Madrid when thou shouldst be In Alcala. Vict. O pardon me, my friend, If I so long have kept this secret from thee; But silence is the charm that guards such treasures, And, if a word be spoken ere the time, They sink again, they were not meant for us. Hyp. Alas! alas! I see thou art in love. Love keeps the cold out better than a cloak. It serves for food and raiment. Give a Spaniard His mass, his olla, and his Dona Luisa-- Thou knowest the proverb. But pray tell me, lover, How speeds thy wooing? Is the maiden coy? Write her a song, beginning with an Ave; Sing as the monk sang to the Virgin Mary, Ave! cujus calcem clare Nec centenni commendare Sciret Seraph studio! Vict. Pray, do not jest! This is no time for it! I am in earnest! Hyp. Seriously enamored? What, ho! The Primus of great Alcala Enamored of a Gypsy? Tell me frankly, How meanest thou? Vict. I mean it honestly. Hyp. Surely thou wilt not marry her! Vict. Why not? Hyp. She was betrothed to one Bartolome, If I remember rightly, a young Gypsy Who danced with her at Cordova. Vict. They quarrelled, And so the matter ended. Hyp. But in truth Thou wilt not marry her. Vict. In truth I will. The angels sang in heaven when she was born! She is a precious jewel I have found Among the filth and rubbish of the world. I'll stoop for it; but when I wear it here, Set on my forehead like the morning star, The world may wonder, but it will not laugh. Hyp. If thou wear'st nothing else upon thy forehead, 'T will be indeed a wonder. Vict. Out upon thee With thy unseasonable jests! Pray tell me, Is there no virtue in the world? Hyp. Not much. What, think'st thou, is she doing at this moment; Now, while we speak of her? Vict. She lies asleep, And from her parted lips her gentle breath Comes like the fragrance from the lips of flowers. Her tender limbs are still, and on her breast The cross she prayed to, ere she fell asleep, Rises and falls with the soft tide of dreams, Like a light barge safe moored. Hyp. Which means, in prose, She's sleeping with her mouth a little open! Vict. O, would I had the old magician's glass To see her as she lies in childlike sleep! Hyp. And wouldst thou venture? Vict. Ay, indeed I would! Hyp. Thou art courageous. Hast thou e'er reflected How much lies hidden in that one word, NOW? Vict. Yes; all the awful mystery of Life! I oft have thought, my dear Hypolito, That could we, by some spell of magic, change The world and its inhabitants to stone, In the same attitudes they now are in, What fearful glances downward might we cast Into the hollow chasms of human life! What groups should we behold about the death-bed, Putting to shame the group of Niobe! What joyful welcomes, and what sad farewells! What stony tears in those congealed eyes! What visible joy or anguish in those cheeks! What bridal pomps, and what funereal shows! What foes, like gladiators, fierce and struggling! What lovers with their marble lips together! Hyp. Ay, there it is! and, if I were in love, That is the very point I most should dread. This magic glass, these magic spells of thine, Might tell a tale were better left untold. For instance, they might show us thy fair cousin, The Lady Violante, bathed in tears Of love and anger, like the maid of Colchis, Whom thou, another faithless Argonaut, Having won that golden fleece, a woman's love, Desertest for this Glauce. Vict. Hold thy peace! She cares not for me. She may wed another, Or go into a convent, and, thus dying, Marry Achilles in the Elysian Fields. Hyp. (rising). And so, good night! Good morning, I should say. (Clock strikes three.) Hark! how the loud and ponderous mace of Time Knocks at the golden portals of the day! And so, once more, good night! We'll speak more largely Of Preciosa when we meet again. Get thee to bed, and the magician, Sleep, Shall show her to thee, in his magic glass, In all her loveliness. Good night! [Exit. Vict. Good night! But not to bed; for I must read awhile. (Throws himself into the arm-chair which HYPOLITO has left, and lays a large book open upon his knees.) Must read, or sit in revery and watch The changing color of the waves that break Upon the idle sea-shore of the mind! Visions of Fame! that once did visit me, Making night glorious with your smile, where are ye? O, who shall give me, now that ye are gone, Juices of those immortal plants that bloom Upon Olympus, making us immortal? Or teach me where that wondrous mandrake grows Whose magic root, torn from the earth with groans, At midnight hour, can scare the fiends away, And make the mind prolific in its fancies! I have the wish, but want the will, to act! Souls of great men departed! Ye whose words Have come to light from the swift river of Time, Like Roman swords found in the Tagus' bed, Where is the strength to wield the arms ye bore? From the barred visor of Antiquity Reflected shines the eternal light of Truth, As from a mirror! All the means of action-- The shapeless masses, the materials-- Lie everywhere about us. What we need Is the celestial fire to change the flint Into transparent crystal, bright and clear. That fire is genius! The rude peasant sits At evening in his smoky cot, and draws With charcoal uncouth figures on the wall. The son of genius comes, foot-sore with travel, And begs a shelter from the inclement night. He takes the charcoal from the peasant's hand, And, by the magic of his touch at once Transfigured, all its hidden virtues shine, And, in the eyes of the astonished clown, It gleams a diamond! Even thus transformed, Rude popular traditions and old tales Shine as immortal poems, at the touch Of some poor, houseless, homeless, wandering bard, Who had but a night's lodging for his pains. But there are brighter dreams than those of Fame, Which are the dreams of Love! Out of the heart Rises the bright ideal of these dreams, As from some woodland fount a spirit rises And sinks again into its silent deeps, Ere the enamored knight can touch her robe! 'T is this ideal that the soul of man, Like the enamored knight beside the fountain, Waits for upon the margin of Life's stream; Waits to behold her rise from the dark waters, Clad in a mortal shape! Alas! how many Must wait in vain! The stream flows evermore, But from its silent deeps no spirit rises! Yet I, born under a propitious star, Have found the bright ideal of my dreams. Yes! she is ever with me. I can feel, Here, as I sit at midnight and alone, Her gentle breathing! on my breast can feel The pressure of her head! God's benison Rest ever on it! Close those beauteous eyes, Sweet Sleep! and all the flowers that bloom at night With balmy lips breathe in her ears my name! (Gradually sinks asleep.)

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