UPSALL. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
This excerpt comes from Longfellow's dramatic poem about Nicholas Upsall, a real man from the Puritan era who challenged the strict Sabbath laws of colonial Boston.
The poem
O day of rest! How beautiful, how fair, How welcome to the weary and the old! Day of the Lord! and truce to earthly cares! Day of the Lord, as all our days should be! Ah, why will man by his austerities Shut out the blessed sunshine and the light, And make of thee a dungeon of despair! WALTER MERRY (entering and looking round him). All silent as a graveyard! No one stirring; No footfall in the street, no sound of voices! By righteous punishment and perseverance, And perseverance in that punishment, At last I have brought this contumacious town To strict observance of the Sabbath day. Those wanton gospellers, the pigeons yonder, Are now the only Sabbath-breakers left. I cannot put them down. As if to taunt me, They gather every Sabbath afternoon In noisy congregation on my roof, Billing and cooing. Whir! take that, ye Quakers. Throws a stone at the pigeons. Sees UPSALL. Ah! Master Nicholas!
This excerpt comes from Longfellow's dramatic poem about Nicholas Upsall, a real man from the Puritan era who challenged the strict Sabbath laws of colonial Boston. The opening voice laments how strict religious rules have transformed a day intended for rest and joy into something somber and lifeless. Next, we encounter Walter Merry, a smug enforcer who has managed to silence the entire town—and he's angry that even the pigeons refuse to follow his commands.
Line-by-line
O day of rest! How beautiful, how fair, / How welcome to the weary and the old!
All silent as a graveyard! No one stirring; / No footfall in the street, no sound of voices!
Those wanton gospellers, the pigeons yonder, / Are now the only Sabbath-breakers left.
Tone & mood
The poem shifts between two opposing tones. It begins warmly and with sincere reverence, depicting the Sabbath as a much-needed respite for weary individuals. When Walter Merry enters, the mood turns to sharp, biting satire. Longfellow allows Merry to reveal his own shortcomings through his own words: his arrogance, his small-mindedness, and his irritation with pigeons. This combination creates a comic effect on the surface while hiding a deeper anger beneath.
Symbols & metaphors
- The pigeons — The pigeons symbolize the natural, unstoppable force of life — a source of joy and connection that no law can stifle. When Merry calls them "wanton gospellers" and likens them to Quakers, he directly ties them to the religious dissenters he persecutes. They serve as the poem's emblem of freedom that endures beyond tyranny.
- The graveyard silence — Merry uses the phrase "silent as a graveyard" to express admiration, but it ends up working against him. A day of rest that feels lifeless is far from the intended spirit of the Sabbath. This silence serves as Longfellow's critique of Puritan excess, disguised as Merry's bragging.
- Sunshine and light — In the opening stanza, sunshine represents what human austerity keeps at bay. Light symbolizes grace, warmth, and the inherent goodness of life — everything that strict adherence to rules undermines in the name of religion.
- The stone Merry throws — A small but significant gesture. Throwing a stone at birds on the Sabbath is, in itself, a disruption of the peace he says he safeguards. It also resonates with the biblical idea of casting the first stone, subtly highlighting Merry as the one who lacks grace.
Historical context
Longfellow included this in his longer dramatic work *New England Tragedies* (1868), which features verse plays set in colonial Puritan Massachusetts. Nicholas Upsall was a real person — a Boston resident who faced fines and eventual banishment for sheltering Quakers and standing up against the persecution of religious dissenters during the 1650s and 1660s. Longfellow wrote during the aftermath of the Civil War, a time when issues of conscience, law, and moral courage were front and center. His depiction of Puritan Boston isn't a celebration; it's a critique of what happens when religious authority crosses the line into cruelty. Walter Merry may be fictional, but he embodies a very real type — the true believer whose faith has warped into a means of control.
FAQ
Nicholas Upsall (c. 1590–1666) was an innkeeper in Boston and one of the first colonists to openly challenge the Puritan authorities' persecution of Quakers. He faced fines, had his property taken away, and was ultimately banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for providing shelter to Quakers and protesting their executions. Longfellow portrayed him as the moral center of this dramatic poem.
The term "Gospellers" was used by Puritans in a derogatory way to refer to religious enthusiasts they deemed chaotic. By using this term for pigeons, Longfellow illustrates how Merry's instinct to persecute is so deep-rooted that he extends it to animals. The comparison to Quakers serves as the punchline: Quakers faced severe oppression in Puritan Boston, so likening them to cooing birds highlights the absurdity and brutality of that persecution.
It begins with a lyrical prologue, where an unnamed voice contemplates the essence of the Sabbath. Then, it transitions into a dramatic scene as Walter Merry steps in as a speaking character, complete with stage directions. This blend of lyrical and dramatic styles is typical of Longfellow's *New England Tragedies*, which are crafted for both reading and performance.
He is clearly critical of them. The opening stanza presents an ideal — a day of rest and light — but the rest of the excerpt reveals what the Puritans actually made of it: a graveyard silence maintained by a man who throws stones at birds. Longfellow doesn’t lecture; he simply lets Merry speak and trusts the reader to recognize the gap between piety and cruelty.
Both. *New England Tragedies* was released as a reading text, and Longfellow was aware that it probably wouldn't be performed on stage. However, the stage directions and dialogue format infuse it with theatrical energy. The scene featuring Merry and the pigeons stands out as particularly effective for performance because the physical comedy—a man throwing a stone at birds on the Sabbath—highlights his self-righteousness in a way that simple narration can't achieve.
Merry uses the term to describe the town's stubborn resistance to authority before he brought it into line. It's a legal and ecclesiastical term that reflects his mindset; he often thinks in terms of punishment and enforcement, even when discussing his neighbors.
Longfellow often drew on American history for moral lessons — *The Song of Hiawatha*, *Paul Revere's Ride*, and *Evangeline* all reflect the values he valued in his own era. *Upsall* follows this trend: it references the Puritan era to advocate for religious tolerance and warns against mixing law with personal conscience.
The phrase highlights the inversion that Longfellow is pointing out: a day meant to liberate people from work and stress has instead become one of fear and limitation. "Dungeon" carries a heavy connotation — it suggests confinement, darkness, and punishment. The speaker suggests that human inflexibility has transformed what was intended as a gift into a prison.