The Wreck of The Hesperus In Verse, History and Idiom
Created Jul 17, 2007 | Updated Jul 17, 2007
Source: http://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A24370337
In December 1839 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the poem The Wreck of The Hesperus about a
schooner that crashed on a reef off the Massachusetts coast. Since then, there has been much
speculation as to whether it was one particular incident which provided the inspiration for the poem; or
if it drew upon several such wrecks. In addition, the title of the poem, seemingly cast adrift from the
content, has become somewhat proverbial.
The Wreck in Verse
The poem is formed of 22 four-line stanzas, of which the second and fourth lines of each rhyme.
Longfellow remarked that it was an incredibly easy poem to write, in that it came to him in whole
stanzas rather than words or lines.
The poem relates the tale of an over-confident ship's captain, who took his young daughter out on the
ocean one winter's day. At some point in the trip, an old seaman warns that a storm is on the way, and
suggests a return to land. However, the captain is sure that his boat can withstand any weather, and
laughs at the idea. Once the storm hits, that certainty soon fades. In order to protect his daughter the
captain ties her to the mast - the most secure point of the ship. They sail through the night, trying to
keep the ship steady and free from danger. The captain then ties himself to the helm while his daughter
asks him questions about the things she could see and hear. Her last question goes unanswered - her
father had died. By the morning she was washed up on a beach, also dead, with salt tears in her eyes,
and her hair looking like seaweed. She is still tied to the mast, though the rest of the ship lies elsewhere,
having been wrecked upon the Norman's Woe reef, with all hands lost. The final stanza of the poem
bemoans this terrible fate, and leaves us with the implication that it could all have been avoided if the
captain had not been over-confident.
The Wreck in History
The descriptions and imagery in the poem are so vivid that there has been much speculation as to
whether there was an actual Hesperus that provided the inspiration for Longfellow. It seems that there
were a series of great and sudden storms around the Massachusetts coast in December, 1839, in which
many ships were wrecked and several lives lost. On the 17th, Longfellow wrote in his journal:
News of shipwrecks horrible, on the coast. Forty bodies washed ashore near Gloucester, one
lashed to a piece of the wreck. There is a reef called Norman's Woe, where many of these took
place; among others the schooner Hesperus.
So it seems that there was a real Hesperus which came to grief on Norman's Woe, though the rest of the
detail from the poem may be pieced together from the reports of several ships. Rumours persist that
the schooner Favorite, wrecked during one of the December storms, is the basis of the Hesperus,
possibly because a woman is reported to have been on board at the time. Another ship, the Deposit was
said also to have a woman on board during the storms, however she survived, while her husband, the
ship's captain, did not. Other reports exist of a woman that was found tied to a mast following one
storm, in a similar situation to that in which Longfellow puts the little girl. The problem is that such
reports are necessarily hazy, having been made in situations when people were more concerned with
staying alive than with accurate recording of details, so it's difficult to claim anything with certainty.
The Wreck of the Hesperus by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
History and Background Information
1. Based on the information from the article, make an inference as to why sea travel could have been
dangerous during this time period.
2. Conflict with nature is a frequent topic in poems. What event from the natural world inspired
Longfellow to write about this conflict?
3. Explain why you think the news of these shipwrecks had such an impact on Longfellow that he was
inspired to write The Wreck of the Hesperus.
Master and Commander Movie Clip
1. After watching the storm at sea from the movie Master and Commander, describe your thoughts and
reactions as if you were a traveler on a ship during such a storm.
2. Write a simile for a storm at sea based on what you saw in Master and Commander.
The Wreck of the Hesperus by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
It was the schooner Hesperus,
That sailed the wint'ry sea;
And the skipper had taken his little daughter,
To bear him company.
"O father! I see a gleaming light,
O say what may it be?"
But the father answered never a word,
A frozen corpse was he.
Blue were her eyes as the fairy-flax,
Her cheeks like the dawn of day,
And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds
That ope in the month of May.
Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark,
With his face turned to the skies,
The lantern gleamed through the gleaming snow
On his fixed and glassy eyes.
The skipper he stood beside the helm,
His pipe was in his mouth,
And watched how the veering flaw did blow
The smoke now West, now South.
Then the maiden clasped her hands and prayed
That saved she might be;
And she thought of Christ who stilled the wave
On the Lake of Galilee.
Then up and spake an old Sailor,
Had sailed the Spanish Main,
"I pray thee put into yonder port,
For I fear a hurricane.
And fast through the midnight dark and drear,
Through the whistling sleet and snow,
Like a sheeted ghost, the vessel swept
Towards the reef of Norman's Woe.
"Last night, the moon had a golden ring,
And tonight no moon we see!"
The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe,
And a scornful laugh laughed he.
And ever the fitful gusts between
A sound came from the land;
It was the sound of the trampling surf,
On the rocks and the hard sea-sand.
Colder and louder blew the wind,
A gale from the North-east;
The snow fell hissing in the brine,
And the billows frothed like yeast.
The breakers were right beneath her bows,
She drifted a dreary wreck,
And a whooping billow swept the crew
Like icicles from her deck.
Down came the storm, and smote amain
The vessel in its strength;
She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed,
Then leaped her cable's length.
She struck where the white and fleecy waves
Looked soft as carded wool,
But the cruel rocks, they gored her sides
Like the horns of an angry bull.
"Come hither! come hither! my little daughter,
And do not tremble so;
For I can weather the roughest gale
That ever wind did blow."
Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice,
With the masts went by the board;
Like a vessel of glass she stove and sank,
Ho! ho! the breakers roared!
He wrapped her warm in his seaman's coat
Against the stinging blast;
He cut a rope from a broken spar,
And bound her to the mast.
At daybreak, on the bleak sea-beach,
A fisherman stood aghast,
To see the form of a maiden fair
Lashed close to a drifting mast.
"O father! I hear the church-bells ring,
O say what may it be?"
"'Tis a fog-bell on a rock-bound coast!"
And he steered for the open sea.
The salt sea was frozen on her breast,
The salt tears in her eyes;
And he saw her hair, like the brown seaweed,
On the billows fall and rise.
"O father! I hear the sound of guns,
O say what may it be?"
"Some ship in distress, that cannot live
In such an angry sea!"
Such was the wreck of the Hesperus,
In the midnight and the snow!
Christ save us all from a death like this
On the reef of Norman's Woe!
The Wreck of the Hesperus Figurative Language
Reread the poem to find examples of the figurative language listed below. Write down the exact quote that uses
the figurative language.
Figurative Language
Quote from the poem
Simile
Metaphor
Onomatopoeia
Hyperbole
Alliteration
1. Was the captain of the Hesperus a good parent? Explain your answer using a quote from the poem.
2. Write a theme statement for the poem and support it with quotes from the poem.
The theme of Wreck of the Hesperus is _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________.
A quote from the poem to support my theme is_______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________.
This quote supports my theme because_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Imagery in Wreck of the Hesperus
The five senses are often used in poetry to create a powerful image or impression of an event. Use the
questions below to uncover the imagery in Wreck of the Hesperus.
Sense
Sight: What did they see?
Hearing: What did they hear?
Taste: What did they taste?
Touch: What textures did they touch?
Smell: What did they smell?
Quote from the poem
Allusions to The Wreck of the Hesperus in Popular Culture
Many times, a classic poem becomes so well-known that references to it can appear in a many places
and formats. Below is a list of some of the poem’s appearances in our culture (from Wikipedia).
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"The Wreck of the Hesperus" was adapted into films of the same name in 1927 and 1948. In the 1975
Australian film, Picnic at Hanging Rock, the headmistress forbids a student from participating in a school
outing because she has failed to memorize lines from the poem. In Kevin Sullivan's 1985 film of Anne of
Green Gables, a character recites "The Wreck of the Hesperus" prior to Anne's rousing rendition of "The
Highwayman". "The Wreck of the Hesperus" is referenced in the comic song "Lydia the Tattooed Lady," by
Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, performed by Groucho Marx in the movie At the Circus (1939), by Virginia
Weidler in The Philadelphia Story (1940), by Robin Williams in The Fisher King (1991), as well as Kermit the
Frog in The Muppet Show.
The title phrase is sometimes used colloquially to indicate a disheveled appearance. In the film The Big
Circus (1959), one character tells another: "I didn't bring the rain and you're beginning to look like the
wreck of the Hesperus."
The Pleasure Island amusement park in Wakefield, Massachusetts (1958 - 1970), 18 miles south-west of
the site where the fictional Hesperus sank, featured a ride named "The Wreck of the Hesperus".
The rock band Procol Harum included their song "The Wreck of the Hesperus" on their album A Salty Dog,
released in 1969. George Harrison included his song "Wreck of the Hesperus" on his 1987 album Cloud
Nine. The English poet Roger McGough recited a one-minute version of the poem, complete with sound
effects, on the album "Miniatures" produced by Morgan Fisher in 1980.
Mad magazine parodied the poem by presenting the text with outlandish illustrations by Wallace Wood,
including a pint-sized captain and a hideous, tall daughter, who survives the storms and strides away still
tied to the mast.
Wreck of the Hesperus is the name of an Irish doom/drone metal band.
However, one of the most well-known references is the cartoon Mighty Mouse. After viewing the video
clip of Mighty Mouse’s Wreck of the Hesperus, answer the following question.
Contrast the ending of Longfellow’s poem with Mighty Mouse’s version. Why do you think the animators
of Mighty Mouse chose to change the ending? (hint: think about the audience for the poem vs. the
audience for a cartoon).