Wapentake
To Alfred Tennyson
Poet! I come to touch thy lance with mine; Not as a knight, who on the listed field Of tourney touched his adversary's shield In token of defiance, but in sign Of homage to the mastery, which is thine, In English song; nor will I keep concealed, And voiceless as a rivulet frost-congealed, My admiration for thy verse divine. Not of the howling dervishes of song, Who craze the brain with their delirious dance, Art thou, O sweet historian of the heart! Therefore to thee the laurel-leaves belong, To thee our love and our allegiance, For thy allegiance to the poet's art.
Wapentake - fact Summary
Dedicated to Alfred Tennyson
Longfellow’s short poem is an explicit tribute to Alfred Tennyson, presented as a knightly gesture of respect rather than rivalry. The speaker declares admiration for Tennyson’s mastery of English verse, contrasting him with wild, excessive singers and calling him a ‘‘sweet historian of the heart.’’ The poem awards Tennyson the laurel and pledges love and allegiance in return for his devotion to the poet’s art.
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