Excelsior

Quiz: "Excelsior" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

1. Recall – Form & Structure: What poetic form does "Excelsior" most closely resemble, and how does its steady, drumbeat-like rhythm reinforce the youth's journey?

1. Recall – Speaker & Setting: Where does the poem's action take place, and at what time of day does the youth begin his ascent?

1. Recall – Key Image: What object does the youth carry throughout the poem, and what Latin word or phrase does it display? What does that word mean in English?

1. Recall – Characters: Name the three figures (besides the monks and the dog) who either warn the youth or offer him comfort, and briefly identify what each one represents.

1. Comprehension – Symbolism: What do the household fires visible from the mountain pass symbolize, and how does the youth's reaction upon seeing them reveal his character?

1. Comprehension – The St. Bernard Hound: What does the St. Bernard dog discover at dawn, and why is the detail of the youth's frozen grip on the banner significant?

1. Comprehension – The Warnings: How does the peasant's warning differ in tone from the old man's warning, and what does the youth's increasingly faint voice in that stanza foreshadow?

1. Analysis – Ambiguity of the Ending: In the final stanza, the youth is described in two seemingly contradictory terms. What are they, and how does this pairing reflect the poem's central ambiguity about ambition?

1. Analysis – The Falling Star: The poem's closing image compares a descending heavenly voice to a falling star. Explain how this symbol captures the poem's central tension between aspiration and destruction.

1. Analysis – Historical & Thematic Context: "Excelsior" was published in 1841 and became enormously popular, yet later generations read it more ironically. What does each reading — the admiring 19th-century view and the ironic later view — indicate about the meaning of the youth's death?

Answer Key

1. "Excelsior" resembles a traditional ballad in form; the steady, drumbeat rhythm mirrors the youth's relentless, unyielding march upward and reinforces his single-minded determination.

1. The poem is set in a perilous Alpine mountain pass (inspired by the Great St. Bernard Hospice in the Swiss Alps); the youth begins his ascent at nightfall, when darkness signals danger and works against him.

1. The youth carries a banner bearing the word "Excelsior," which means "ever higher" (or "still higher") in Latin — it is both his rallying cry and his entire identity.

1. The old man (representing practical experience and wisdom, warning of an approaching storm), the maiden (representing love, rest, and human connection), and the peasant (delivering the most ominous warning — that any disturbance could trigger a deadly avalanche).

1. The household fires symbolize love, family, safety, and everyday happiness — everything the youth is sacrificing for ambition. The fact that he groans upon seeing them demonstrates he is not coldly indifferent; he genuinely feels the pull of what he is leaving behind.

1. The St. Bernard dog discovers the youth's dead body. The detail that he still grips the banner even in death is significant because it merges his identity with his ambition — he never surrendered his goal, even as the mountain claimed him.

1. The peasant's warning has a chilling, almost prophetic tone (an avalanche means certain death), whereas the old man's warning is more practical (storm and flooding). The youth's voice, described as coming from far up the mountainside, foreshadows that he is moving beyond reach and closer to his death.

1. The youth is described as "lifeless, but beautiful." This pairing reflects the poem's refusal to judge his choice as purely foolish or purely glorious — it holds both tragedy and admiration simultaneously, embodying the poem's central ambiguity about the cost of relentless ambition.

1. A falling star is brilliant and originates from above (aspiration, heaven, glory), but it is also burning out as it descends (destruction, death, failure to reach the summit). The image thus perfectly captures the poem's tension: the youth's ambition is luminous and inspiring, yet it ends in his annihilation before he achieves his goal.

1. 19th-century readers saw the youth as a heroic model of self-improvement and progress, viewing his death as a noble sacrifice for ambition — consistent with the era's optimism. Later readers interpreted the death ironically, seeing the youth's refusal of every warning and human connection as a critique of ambition taken to self-destructive excess, suggesting that "ever upward" can become its own form of blindness.