Mezzo cammin
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Mezzo Cammin” was written on 25 August 1842 but not published until after his death. The title means “midway through the journey” and comes from the first line of Dante’s “Divine Comedy”: “Midway upon the journey of our life / I found myself within a forest dark, / For the straightforward pathway had been lost”. Longfellow wrote this poem when he was 35 years old, halfway through the scriptural lifespan of 70 years.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on 27 February 1807 in Portland, Maine, US, and he died on 24 March 1882 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, at the age of 75.A poet and educator, Longfellow was the first American to completely translate Dante’s Divine Comedy into English. He wrote many lyric poems known for their musicality, often presenting stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and had success overseas.
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Half of my life is gone, and I have let The years slip from me and have not fulfilled The aspiration of my youth, to build Some tower of song with lofty parapet. Not indolence, nor pleasure, nor the fret Of restless passions that would not be stilled, But sorrow, and a care that almost killed, Kept me from what I may accomplish yet; Though, half-way up the hill, I see the Past Lying beneath me with its sounds and sights, — A city in the twilight dim and vast, With smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights, — And hear above me on the autumnal blast The cataract of Death far thundering from the heights.