The Jewish Cemetery By Henry Longfellow Figurative Language

Henry Longfellow’s The Jewish Cemetery at Newport encompasses the main idea of death, in regard to those of Jewish heritage. In making his points, he conveys his perspective of the religious persecution against the Jewish community. He also conveys to his audience on the outlook of death of mourners and the attitude of endurance that the Jews consistently maintained. In painting the picture of the persecuted group, Longfellow utilizes figurative language, devices, and intricate vocabulary. Therefore, conveying a message in his poem.

In the middle of the poem, Longfellow mentions Christianity being responsible for persecuting the Jewish people. For example, he says “What burst of Christian hate…persecution, merciless, and blind” (lines 31-32).

The idea of hatred blatantly gives readers the notion that the Jewish community was murdered because of their faith and practices that differed from Christianity. In some verses above, Longfellow exclaims, “Closed are the portals of their synagogues, no psalms of David now the silence break, no rabbi reads the ancient Decalogue” (lines 21-23). With the use of the word “silence” it seems as if the Christians were successful in an extinction of the Jews since they were no longer in existence, even in their own synagogues. As well, words such as persecution , merciless, an blind were used to emphasize the cause of their death as being cold and unjustified.
After introducing his main idea of death and its victims, Longfellow briefly introduces those who were also affected by death, the mourners.

He quotes them stating, “Blessed be God for he created Death!…and the Death is at rest and peace…And giveth Life that nevermore shall cease” (Lines17-20). The audience can easily decipher through this quote that the mourners did not harbor anger or an attitude of bitterness. Rather, the mourners obtain an attitude of acceptance. The tone in this quote remains the same as it does throughout the poem. Therefore, the audience can tell that the mourners’ perspective of death was not positive, but at the very same circumstance, they understood it was something out of their control, in which they transferred their emotions to God by praising Him (Line

17).
A final point made in this poem was endurance. As a community, the Jews had an attitude to endure during their oppression. On lines 35-36, “Taught in the school of patience to endure…The life of anguish and the death of fire.” This conveys that they were terrorized, prior to being persecuted. In order to survive, they had to learn how to endure and adapt to their environment; even though they may have known the worst was to come. In enduring the opposition that encompassed them, they were shown to remain firm as a community and as a people. “Pride and humiliation hand in hand…Trampled and beaten…unshaken as the continent” (line 41-42). Proving, they were spiritually unmoved.
In addition, both figurative language and literary devices are very prominent throughout the poem. Longfellow frequently utilized metaphors and similes. For example, “Pride and humiliation hand in hand” (line 41). Here, he also personifies the characteristic traits of the people as walking hand in hand, just as human-beings would do. Metaphorically, he compares these traits as possessions that the community had to endure their tribulation. Another example he used, “And yet unshaken as the continent” (line 44). The simile compares their endurance as being firm and unmoved to the stillness of a global continent displaying their attitude and their faith as being unwavering.
The poet also utilized allusion and juxtaposition to make his point. For example, “Seems like the tablets of the Law, thrown down and broken by Moses at the mountain base” (lines 9-12). In this line, Longfellow alludes to the biblical story of Moses and the Ten Commandments, in which he broke out of anger. This form of literary device conveyed a similar condition of the cemetery’s headstones that he stumbled upon which gave their history. He also juxtaposed two groups of men from different periods. He says “The very names recorded…Alvarez and Rivera interchange with Abraham and Jacob, although they were from two different time periods” (lines 13-16).
Additionally, in reading “The Jewish Cemetery at Newport” readers may find that the poet capitalized specific words.

For example, “While underneath these leafy tents…mysterious Exodus of Death” (line 7-8). It appears that Longfellow wanted to highlight the persecution’s significance to the community, despite it being “mysterious” or perhaps forgotten. Another example he utilized, “Seems like the tablets of the Law, thrown down” (line11). He capitalizes law, without specifying the exact laws he was referring to. However, by alluding to Moses, it could be implied that he referenced the Ten Commandments, which is very important within the Jewish

community.
In conclusion, Henry Longfellow devoted his life to literature. He stumbled upon the Jewish’s cemetery after moving to Rhode Island. Although, not of Jewish heritage, he educated himself on the Jewish’s migration and residency in the town of Newport. This may have motivated him to write this poem as part of paying respect to those who unfortunately were persecuted. He wrote this poem with a descriptive style and also entailed a quatrain stanza. Therefore, he was able to strongly convey the main idea of death that occurred during the religious persecution against the Jewish community.