The Broken Oar. A Book of Sonnets. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1893. Complete Poetical Works

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893.

A Book of Sonnets

The Broken Oar

“November 13, 1864. Stay at home and ponder upon Dante. I am frequently tempted to write upon my work the inscription found upon an oar cast on the coast of Iceland,—

	Oft war ek dasa durek [char]ro thick.
Oft was I weary when I tugged at thee.”

ONCE upon Iceland’s solitary strand
A poet wandered with his book and pen,
Seeking some final word, some sweet Amen,
Wherewith to close the volume in his hand.	5
The billows rolled and plunged upon the sand,
The circling sea-gulls swept beyond his ken,
And from the parting cloud-rack now and then
Flashed the red sunset over sea and land
Then by the billows at his feet was tossed	10
A broken oar; and carved thereon he read:
“Oft was I weary, when I toiled at thee;”
And like a man, who findeth what was lost,
He wrote the words, then lifted up his head,
And flung his useless pen into the sea.	15

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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