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The Annotated Edition

TO-MORROW by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Summary, meaning, line-by-line analysis & FAQ.

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A restless Longfellow lies awake at night while his children sleep, listening to the ticking clocks and crowing roosters, sensing tomorrow creeping in like an unexpected visitor.

Poet
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Themes
faith, hope, mortality
The PoemFull text

TO-MORROW

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

'T is late at night, and in the realm of sleep My little lambs are folded like the flocks; From room to room I hear the wakeful clocks Challenge the passing hour, like guards that keep Their solitary watch on tower and steep; Far off I hear the crowing of the cocks, And through the opening door that time unlocks Feel the fresh breathing of To-morrow creep. To-morrow! the mysterious, unknown guest, Who cries to me: "Remember Barmecide, And tremble to be happy with the rest." And I make answer: "I am satisfied; I dare not ask; I know not what is best; God hath already said what shall betide."

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

A restless Longfellow lies awake at night while his children sleep, listening to the ticking clocks and crowing roosters, sensing tomorrow creeping in like an unexpected visitor. Tomorrow warns him not to get too cozy with happiness. He responds with a calm acceptance: he trusts God to determine what lies ahead, and that reassures him.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. 'T is late at night, and in the realm of sleep / My little lambs are folded like the flocks;

    Editor's note

    Longfellow begins in the stillness of night. His children are asleep — he affectionately refers to them as "little lambs," a gentle image drawn from pastoral tradition with a subtle biblical resonance. The house is quiet, and he is the only one awake.

  2. From room to room I hear the wakeful clocks / Challenge the passing hour, like guards that keep

    Editor's note

    The clocks chiming throughout the house stand like sentinels—soldiers confronting anyone who walks by. Time is on patrol. This simile transforms a typical household sound into something militaristic and a bit foreboding, suggesting that each hour must justify its existence.

  3. Far off I hear the crowing of the cocks, / And through the opening door that time unlocks

    Editor's note

    The roosters announce that dawn is approaching. Longfellow gives time the role of a doorman who gently unlocks the door to a new day. The shift from night to morning isn't abrupt — it sneaks in, it breathes, it seeps through the crack.

  4. Feel the fresh breathing of To-morrow creep. / To-morrow! the mysterious, unknown guest,

    Editor's note

    Tomorrow feels like a living presence — a guest who breathes and moves. The exclamation point hints at a change in emotion: perhaps wonder or a touch of unease. Tomorrow isn’t just a date on a calendar; it’s a stranger with unknown intentions.

  5. Who cries to me: "Remember Barmecide, / And tremble to be happy with the rest."

    Editor's note

    Tomorrow speaks, and its message is a warning. The Barmecide is a character from *One Thousand and One Nights* — a nobleman who served a beggar an imaginary feast, pretending the empty plates were full of food. This allusion serves as a reminder: don't be deceived by the illusion of happiness; don't indulge in what isn't truly available. Tomorrow calls for caution against false contentment.

  6. And I make answer: "I am satisfied; / I dare not ask; I know not what is best;

    Editor's note

    Longfellow responds with a thoughtful humility. He won't ask for more from life than what he already possesses. He acknowledges that he doesn't know what's truly best for him—a rare and genuine admission that goes against our natural instinct to plan, desire, and strive.

  7. God hath already said what shall betide."

    Editor's note

    The final line serves as the poem's anchor. Whatever tomorrow brings has already been determined by God. This isn't a sense of fatalism stemming from despair — it feels more like relief. Longfellow hands the future over to a higher authority and, in that act, finds the peace to stop lying awake and worrying about it.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone is quiet and reflective — the stillness that can only be felt at 2 a.m. when the world is asleep. There’s a sense of unease woven into the first eight lines, a lingering anxiety about what tomorrow might hold. However, the sestet shifts toward calm acceptance, even a sense of serenity. By the final line, the mood has transformed into something resembling peace — not victorious, just steady.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

Little lambs
Longfellow's sleeping children. The image feels warm and protective, evoking pastoral traditions along with the biblical shepherd watching over his flock. It subtly portrays Longfellow as the solitary guardian awake, watching over the innocent as they sleep.
The wakeful clocks
Time itself sounds almost menacing. The clocks don’t just tick—they *defy* the passing hour like soldiers. They embody the unyielding advance of time that prevents the speaker from finding peace.
To-morrow as a guest
The future is depicted as a mysterious stranger who shows up unexpectedly and shares cautionary tales. This image reflects the unease of uncertainty about what tomorrow might bring, while also providing the speaker a chance to respond — transforming personal anxiety into a form of conversation.
The Barmecide feast
An allusion to *One Thousand and One Nights*, where a wealthy man pretends to offer a beggar food that isn't real. Here, it symbolizes a false or illusory happiness—something that appears genuine but lacks substance. Tomorrow cautions Longfellow against being misled by this illusion.
The opening door
The boundary between night and day, between what we know now and what lies ahead. Time is the key that opens it, and tomorrow flows through that space — hinting that the future is constantly approaching, often catching us off guard.
The crowing of the cocks
A classic sign of dawn, indicating that night is fading and a new, unpredictable day is approaching. It contributes to the poem's feeling of time progressing, regardless of the speaker's readiness.

§06Historical context

Historical context

Longfellow penned this sonnet in the mid-nineteenth century, a time when he was among the most popular poets in the English-speaking world. His life was marked by deep sorrow — his first wife passed away in 1835, and his second wife, Fanny, tragically died in a fire in 1861, an event that left him heartbroken for the rest of his days. The poem's late-night backdrop, the image of sleeping children, and its themes of surrender to God's will carry even more significance when considering the grief that Longfellow endured. The allusion to the Barmecide shows his strong connection to world literature, including his own translations and his fascination with *One Thousand and One Nights*. The sonnet structure — fourteen lines arranged in a Petrarchan format with an octave and sestet — effectively captures the poem's progression from anxious observation to a sense of acceptance.

§07FAQ

Questions readers ask

The Barmecide originates from *One Thousand and One Nights*. In this tale, a wealthy man named Barmecide invites a starving beggar to a lavish feast but only serves him empty plates and fake food, which the beggar pretends to enjoy. In the poem, Tomorrow references this story as a warning: don’t fall for the illusion of happiness when it’s not genuine. It serves as a reminder to be wary of self-deception.

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