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The Wreck of the Hesperus is a narrative poem by Henry Longfellow.

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The Wreck of the Hesperus

"The Wreck of the Hesperus" is a poem that presents the tragic consequence of a sea captain's foolish 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.

      "Then up and spake an old Sailor,
      Had sailed the Spanish Main,
     'I pray thee, put into yonder port,
      for I fear a hurricane. (Spake - past tense of speak, archaic)

     'Last night the moon had a golden ring,
      And to-night no moon we see!'
      The skipper, he blew whiff from his pipe,
      And a scornful laugh laughed he."

A ferocious Nor'easter blew up, bringing snow and bone-chilling wind. The skipper tied his daughter to the mast to prevent her from being swept overboard, then tied himself to the helm. Before long, the captain and all his crew died of cold and exposure. The ship crashed onto the "reef of Norman's woe," and the body of the captain's lovely daughter was later discovered by a fisherman.

Longfellow's final plea has a double meaning. It is a call to God to save men from such a horrible death, as well as a call to men to humble their pride and heed the voice of experience:

       "Such was the wreck of the Hesperus,
        In the midnight and the snow!
        Christ save us all from a death like this,
        On the reef of Norman's Woe!"

The Wreck of the Hesperus, apparently as an actual object, is one of the tattoos mentioned in Lydia the Tattooed Lady.

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