"
The Wreck of the Hesperus" is a dramatic poem by American poet
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
, first published in
Ballads and Other Poems in 1842.
Overview
"The Wreck of the Hesperus" is a story that presents the tragic consequences of a sea captain's pride. On an ill-fated voyage in the winter, he had his daughter aboard ship for company. The disaster came when the captain ignored the advice of one of his experienced men, who feared that a "hurricane" was approaching. When the storm (actually a nor'easter, not a hurricane) arrives, the captain ties his daughter to the mast to prevent her from being swept overboard; she calls out to her dying father as she hears the surf beating on the shore, then prays to Christ to calm the seas. The ship crashes onto the reef of
Norman's WoeNorman's Woe is a rock reef on Cape Ann in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It has been the site of a number of ship wrecks. In fiction, it is the site of The Wreck of the Hesperus, a narrative poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
and sinks; the next morning a horrified fisherman finds the daughter's body, still tied to the mast, drifting in the surf. The poem ends with a prayer that we all be spared such a fate "on the reef of Norman's Woe."
Inspiration
Longfellow combined fact and fancy to create this, one of his best-known, most macabre, and most enduring poems. His inspiration was the great Blizzard of 1839, which ravaged the northeast coast of the United States for 12 hours starting January 6, 1839, destroying 20 ships with a loss of 40 lives. He probably drew specifically on the destruction of the Wiscasset, Maine ship
Favorite on the reef of Norman's Woe (located off the coast of
Gloucester, MassachusettsGloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...
); all hands were lost, one of whom was a woman, who reportedly floated to shore dead but still tied to the mast. It is possible that this detail was taken from a different ship that foundered during the same storm, however.
Legends and Folklore
There is a legend that, in January 1840, Longfellow missed a steamboat embarking upon a voyage from New York City to New England, because he had been discussing the merits of the new poem with a publisher and arrived late at the pier. The steamboat he supposedly missed was the
steamship LexingtonThe paddlewheel steamship Lexington was the fastest vessel which traveled from New York City to Boston during 1835-1840. It sank on January 14, 1840 after catching fire the previous evening.-The Ship:...
, which caught fire and sank with the loss of 139 out of 143 passengers and crew on that voyage.
In popular culture
Mad magazineMad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
, in its early years, parodied much poetry by presenting the text with little or no change but with bizarre illustration by a member of its art staff. Wallace Wood took Longfellow's somber poem and illustrated it in a ridiculous manner, with a pint-sized captain, and a hideous, tall, buck-toothed daughter. The ship is found wrecked the morning after the storm, but the captain and his daughter survive and walk off along the shore (she is still tied to the broken-off twenty-foot-tall massive mainmast!), and the fisherman chases after them with her wig, shouting "Norman! Whoa!"
"The Wreck of the Hesperus" is also referenced in the comic song "
Lydia the Tattooed Lady"Lydia the Tattooed Lady" is a 1939 song written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. It first appeared in the 1939 Marx Brothers movie At the Circus and became one of Groucho Marx's signature tunes...
," written by
Harold ArlenHarold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
and
Yip HarburgEdgar Yipsel Harburg , known as E.Y. Harburg or Yip Harburg, was an American popular song lyricist who worked with many well-known composers...
and performed by
Groucho MarxJulius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
in the
Marx BrothersThe Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
movie
At the CircusAt the Circus is a 1939 Marx Brothers comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in which they save a circus from bankruptcy...
(1939). It became one of Groucho's signature tunes. The song is also featured in
The Philadelphia StoryThe Philadelphia Story is a 1940 American romantic comedy film directed by George Cukor and starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart. Based on the Broadway play of the same name by Philip Barry, the film is about a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous...
(1940), sung by
Virginia WeidlerVirginia Weidler was an American child actress, popular in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life and career:...
in her role as "Dinah Lord."
-
- Oh Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
- Lydia The Tattooed Lady.
- She has eyes that folks adore so,
- And a torso, even more so.
- Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclopedia,
- Oh Lydia The Queen of Tattoo.
- On her back is The Battle of Waterloo.
- Beside it "The Wreck of the Hesperus" too.
- And proudly above waves the red, white, and blue.
- You can learn a lot from Lydia!"
The title phrase has also been used as a colloquial term in the UK & Ireland to mean a "disheveled appearance," spoken as
"You look like the wreck of the Hesperus!" and can also refer to a very untidy room. Its everyday use was greater in the 1950s to 1970s; however its use remains, occasionally. Former
BeatleThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
George HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
referenced this colloquial usage in writing his song "Wreck of the Hesperus," included on his 1987 album
Cloud Nine-Personnel:The following personnel was credited in the liner notes.*George Harrison – vocals, guitars, keyboards, sitar*Jeff Lynne – guitars, bass, vocals, keyboards*Eric Clapton – guitar*Elton John – piano*Gary Wright – piano*Ringo Starr – drums...
. Likewise, in an episode of
Bobby's WorldBobby's World is an American animated television series, which ran from 1990 to 1998, on FOX Kids. It was about the daily life of Bobby Generic and his very overactive imagination on how he sees the world. The show was created by Canadian actor-comedian Howie Mandel...
, Martha Generic uses the phrase to describe Bobby's messy room and he humorously mistakes her as having said "the wreck of asparagus."
In
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
sixth season episode "
Homer the Great"Homer the Great" is the twelfth television episode of The Simpsons sixth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 8, 1995. In the episode, Homer discovers that Lenny and Carl are members of the ancient secret society known as the Stonecutters...
", Homer Simpson is repeatedly paddled by the Stonecutters as an initiation prank. Each of the paddlings is given a name, one of them being "The Wreck of the Hesperus."
In
Pawn StarsPawn Stars is an American reality television series on the History Channel, produced in Manhattan by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24-hour family business operated by patriarch Richard...
episode 42 the Old Man refers to the back room of the shop as being "Worse that the wreck of the Hesperus".
In
Mighty MouseMighty Mouse is an animated superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox.-History:The character was created by story man Izzy Klein as a super-powered housefly named Superfly. Studio head Paul Terry changed the character into a cartoon mouse instead...
Season 1, Episode 1, "The Wreck of the Hesperus" (First Aired: February 11, 1944), Mighty Mouse rescues the crew from being eaten by sharks.
In an episode of
The Odd CoupleThe Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing and...
, Oscar mentions the poem casually to Felix.
In the
Looney TunesLooney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
cartoon
The DuckstersThe Ducksters is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short animated in 1949 and released in 1950. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese...
, (1950), Porky Pig asks Daffy Duck, "In what latitude and longitude did the wreck of the Hesperus occur?"
The rock band
Procol HarumProcol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale"...
included their song "The Wreck of the Hesperus" on their album
A Salty DogA Salty Dog is an album by the Rock band Procol Harum, released in June 1969. Having an ostensibly nautical theme, as indicated by its cover , interspersed with straight rock, blues and pop items A Salty Dog showed a slight change of direction from its predecessors, being thematically less obscure...
, released in 1969. It is the story of a shipwreck in progress, and so hearkens back to the original poem. On the American version of the LP, it was the penultimate track on the B side. On the CD release, it is track #7.
Wreck of the HesperusWreck of the Hesperus are a doom metal band from Ireland, based in Dublin. The band first played together in January 2004 and they recorded their first demo, a four-track effort entitled Terminal Dirge in June 2004...
is the name of an Irish doom/drone metal band.
In Kevin Sullivan's 1985 film of
Anne of Green GablesAnne of Green Gables is a 1985 television movie based on the novel of the same name by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The film was produced and directed by Kevin Sullivan for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was released theatrically in Israel, Europe and Japan.The film aired on...
, Amelia Evans, the town eccentric and a woman whom Anne admires for her experience and education, recites "The Wreck of the Hesperus" at the hotel prior to Anne's rousing rendition of "
The Highwayman"The Highwayman" is a narrative poem written by Alfred Noyes, first published in the August 1906 issue of Blackwood's Magazine. The following year it was included in Noyes' collection, Forty Singing Seamen and Other Poems, becoming an immediate success....
".
Roger McGoughRoger Joseph McGough CBE is a well-known English performance poet. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please and records voice-overs for commercials, as well as performing his own poetry regularly...
, the noted English poet, recited a high-speed one-minute version of the poem - complete with sound effects - on the album "Miniatures" produced by
Morgan FisherMorgan Fisher is an English keyboard player / composer, and is most known for being a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still highly active in the music industry...
in 1980.
In the 1975 Australian film,
Picnic at Hanging RockPicnic at Hanging Rock is a 1967 drama and mystery novel by Australian author Joan Lindsay. She wrote it over a four-week period at her home Mulberry Hill in Baxter, on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. It was first published in 1967 in Australia by Cheshire Publishing and was released in...
, Sara, a student of the Appleyard Girl's College, is restricted by the headmistress, Mrs. Appleyard, from going on a School trip with the rest of her schoolmates because she has failed to memorize lines from the "Wreck of the Hesperus".
In the cartoon
PopeyePopeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
"Popeye The Sailor 098 - Child Psykolojiky" (1941), at 4:10 Popeye's father 'Pappy' shoots a picture of a ship at sea titled "The Hesperus" and when the gunshot blast clears the picture depicts a sinking ship and is retitled "The Wreck of the Hesperus".
In Alan Bradley's "A Red Herring Without Mustard," Daphne de Luce refers to Dr. Darby's car as "The Wreck of the Hesperus."
"The Wreck of the Hesperus" was a popular ride at the (now defunct)theme park Pleasure Island (1959-1969) in Wakefield Massachusetts.
External links