H.W Longfellow’s style of writing poetry manages to keep the words and metaphors simple, and yet bring forward some thought-provoking messages. The poem ‘Daybreak’ is one such poem.
Longfellow is one of the most popular English poets to ever exist, rivaling the likes of Robert Frost and William Blake. He wrote lyrical poems about human emotions and experiences.
Daybreak is a wonderful poem that starts off in a very simple way but as the poem progresses, we get to understand the depth of it.
The poem ends with a very deep and profound statement that makes readers think about the message of the poem. Longfellow wonderfully uses the imagery of nature to add life to the verses.
Let’s take a look at the poem first and then at its meaning and analysis of it.
Daybreak by H.W. Longfellow
A wind came up out of the sea, And said, "O mists, make room for me." It hailed the ships, and cried, "Sail on, Ye mariners, the night is gone." And hurried landward far away, Crying, "Awake! it is the day." It said unto the forest, "Shout! Hang all your leafy banners out!" It touched the wood-bird's folded wing, And said, "O bird, awake and sing." And o'er the farms, "O chanticleer, Your clarion blow; the day is near." It whispered to the fields of corn, "Bow down, and hail the coming morn." It shouted through the belfry-tower, "Awake, O bell! proclaim the hour." It crossed the churchyard with a sigh, And said, "Not yet! in quiet lie."
Meaning and Analysis of ‘Daybreak’
The structure of the poem is quite simple and easy to read. The lines are grouped into pairs and there is no use of complex, abstract metaphors.
But that does not make the poem simple in terms of the impact it delivers.
A wind came up out of the sea,
And said, “O mists, make room for me.”
It hailed the ships, and cried, “Sail on,
Ye mariners, the night is gone.”
Longfellow has personified a gust of wind that comes from the sea when the day is about to start. This wind is enthusiastic in telling everyone to start their day.
The wind asks for the mists to make room as in the morning one can see how the mist covers the air around.
By personifying the wind, Longfellow is describing the morning scenes of a town and how people, trees, and animals start their day.
As the day is about to break, the wind also “cries” to the sailors to start their sailing. These ships were waiting for the night to pass to begin their journey.
And hurried landward far away,
Crying, “Awake! it is the day.”
It said unto the forest, “Shout!
Hang all your leafy banners out!”
The wind continues its journey towards the lands, telling everyone and everything to rise up as the morning has come.
Here’s what makes Longfellow such a wonderful poet. Notice how he has used a simple yet powerful metaphor to describe the motion of leaves in the wind.
The wind asks the tree to “hang all your leafy banners out” showing how the trees lie motionless during the night but as the day comes and the winds start, the leaves move and dance like hanging banners.
It touched the wood-bird’s folded wing,
And said, “O bird, awake and sing.”
And o’er the farms, “O chanticleer,
Your clarion blow; the day is near.”
We get another set of beautiful metaphors from these stanzas that invoke the image of a waking world during dawn.
The wind touches the wood bird’s folded wing as the bird is sleeping. Then it tells the cock to start its crowing and lets the world know that the day is near.
It whispered to the fields of corn,
“Bow down, and hail the coming morn.”
It shouted through the belfry-tower,
“Awake, O bell! proclaim the hour.”
With the same excitement as before the wind moved towards the field of corn and made them move by pushing them down. The metaphor again gives a new meaning to the scene; the corn is bowing to hail the coming morning.
The reason why Longfellow has used this metaphor is that morning is like a God to corn. The sun is the reason why the plants are alive and hence the wind makes them bow down to the coming of morn.
The wind also makes the bell move and proclaim the hour. But now we come to the last two lines and they completely change the tone of the poem.
It crossed the churchyard with a sigh,
And said, “Not yet! in quiet lie.”
The wind crosses the churchyard and sees the tombs of the people from the past. There is a sigh in the tone and the energetic nature of the wind is lost.
Remember that the wind is still wind, it is how humans interpret it in different places.
The wind then says to the tomb to stay quiet as the morning does not bring the time for these people to wake up.
Everything and everyone wakes up with the coming of morning, except the people in the tomb. Their time has not come yet.
The addition of “yet” in the end makes the poem mysterious and interesting. What was the poet hinting at with this word?
The Theme of the Poem
What started as a jolly and scenic poem becomes something completely different at the end of it. It does not make it a different poem.
The poem is still about daybreak and how the world starts to stir up and rise from slumber as the day begins.
But the end of the poem adds mystery to the meaning. The wind says “not yet” to the dead people. It is not the time for them to rise.
It is said that the dead will rise on Judgement Day, and that would be the end of everyone else.
The mere addition of this allusion creates a completely different dynamic to the poem. The poem is not just about the beginning of a beautiful day, but also about a deeply frightening event.
Read more from Longfellow: A Psalm of Life by H.W. Longfellow: Detailed Analysis