Season 3 Podcast 62 Excelsior

ExcelsiorWelcome again to Poet’s Corner. Today’s podcast is a brief analysis of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem “Excelsior.” Perhaps we owe the meaning of the word “excelsior” to Longfellow for his poem fixed the word forever in our minds. It suggests onward and upward against all odds, ever ascending, aspiring, climbing. The shades of night were falling fast,As through an Alpine village passedA youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice,A banner with the strange device,      Excelsior! However, even against our will, Longfellow sweeps us up and sends us on the journey with the young lad.The journey epic is a common theme in poetry, particularly a youthful journey into the unknown. The young man is driven but unprepared. In addition, he foolishly starts his journey  too late. Wiser heads would say, wait until morning. Start the journey while it is still light. There is a foreboding and loneliness with the boy, as if he knows it will end in disaster but is driven anyway, almost against his will.  His brow was sad; his eye beneath,Flashed like a falchion from its sheath,And like a silver clarion rungThe accents of that unknown tongue,      Excelsior! But impulsiveness goes with youth. An experienced climber would have prepared everything beforehand. He would have interrogated the locals about the conditions of the mountain.  He would have chosen the best weather conditions, mapped out the journey, and carefully marked his time. Many journey epics are about untried youth gaining experience through adversity. Youth are often foolhardy and recklessly plunge into danger. Many journey epics, however, end with the youth, though battered, gaining experience that better prepares him or her for life. The purpose of the journey epic is to teach us vicariously how to avoid pitfalls through the hard experiences of others.   Most of us live vicariously.  The Holy Bible is a journey epic, the difference being that the characters were real, and the adversary is Satan. We are all already on the journey of life. The authors of the Bible, who profoundly understand freewill and agency, illustrate the rewards of virtue and the pitfalls of sin, thus giving us the choice.  In Longfellow’s poem, the youth ignores all warnings and, therefore, the poem ends in predictable tragedy, otherwise it would melt into dishonest sentimentality. In happy homes he saw the lightOf household fires gleam warm and bright;Above, the spectral glaciers shone,And from his lips escaped a groan,      Excelsior! "Try not the Pass!" the old man said;"Dark lowers the tempest overhead,The roaring torrent is deep and wide!"And loud that clarion voice replied,      Excelsior! "Oh stay," the maiden said, "and restThy weary head upon this breast! "A tear stood in his bright blue eye,But still he answered, with a sigh,      Excelsior! "Beware the pine-tree's withered branch!Beware the awful avalanche!"This was the peasant's last Good-night,A voice replied, far up the height,      Excelsior! In the next stanza, we have the sharp contrast between Christian asceticism and youthful recklessness. As isolated monks live a life of self-imposed poverty and protected piety, the youth, after climbing all night, is now climbing the peaks above the monastery shrieking to the heartless air. At break of day, as heavenwardThe pious monks of Saint BernardUttered the oft-repeated prayer,A voice cried through the startled air,      Excelsior! The anonymous and unhappy youth dedicated to an unspecif