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San Blas Longfellow Connection, Mexico Pacific Coast,
Nayarit
Nayarit
A travel article about
abandoned church bells in
San Blas, a village just
below the Tropic of Cancer
on Mexico's Pacific Coast,
inspired Longfellow to
write a poem, his last
poem.
An article in Harpers
magazine prompted
Longfellow to write The
Bells of San Blas.
abandoned church bells in
San Blas, a village just
below the Tropic of Cancer
on Mexico's Pacific Coast,
inspired Longfellow to
write a poem, his last
poem.
An article in Harpers
magazine prompted
Longfellow to write The
Bells of San Blas.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a celebrated American poet in the mid 1800s
due in part to his poem, Evangeline, and Paul Revere's Ride, wrote a poem in
1882 about church bells the town of San Blass, In, "The Bells of San
Blas", Longfellow used the bells as a symbol when he wrote about the small
Mexican coastal village just before the end of his life. Although he never
visited San Blas, he wrote about the bells in the old church and how mariners
could hear them as they sailed south from Mazatlan. The bells, for him, stood
as symbols of the changing world.
due in part to his poem, Evangeline, and Paul Revere's Ride, wrote a poem in
1882 about church bells the town of San Blass, In, "The Bells of San
Blas", Longfellow used the bells as a symbol when he wrote about the small
Mexican coastal village just before the end of his life. Although he never
visited San Blas, he wrote about the bells in the old church and how mariners
could hear them as they sailed south from Mazatlan. The bells, for him, stood
as symbols of the changing world.
San Blas was founded 1768 as a boat building center
because of its harbor and its surrounding hardwood forests.
From San Blas, Junipero Serra built a ship and departed
for his mission building in California
because of its harbor and its surrounding hardwood forests.
From San Blas, Junipero Serra built a ship and departed
for his mission building in California
The bells were the "voice of the past," the voice of the 16th and 17th century
when Spain was spreading its power over the New World and over the Pacific
to Asia. This was the age when priests and the church ruled the new lands. In
doing so, they had enslaved the indigenous people.
By the mid eighteen hundreds, the time of Longfellow's writing, the old church,
where the bells once hung, had fallen to disuse. The church, still a ruin today,
had been abandoned when San Blas lost its importance as a commercial
port. The hardwood forests used in shipbuilding had been stripped, the
harbor silted up, and shipping had moved south to the deep water ports of
Manzanillo and Acapulco. Sixty years earlier, Mexico had fought its 1810
revolution and gained independence from Spain. The new secular
governments had expelled many of the religious orders and had federalized
church property. Longfellow in the last few lines of the poem celebrates the
end of church domination in the new world.
"O Bells of San Blas, in vain
Ye call back the Past again!
The Past is deaf to your prayer;
Out of the shadows of night
The world rolls into light;
It is daybreak everywhere.
when Spain was spreading its power over the New World and over the Pacific
to Asia. This was the age when priests and the church ruled the new lands. In
doing so, they had enslaved the indigenous people.
By the mid eighteen hundreds, the time of Longfellow's writing, the old church,
where the bells once hung, had fallen to disuse. The church, still a ruin today,
had been abandoned when San Blas lost its importance as a commercial
port. The hardwood forests used in shipbuilding had been stripped, the
harbor silted up, and shipping had moved south to the deep water ports of
Manzanillo and Acapulco. Sixty years earlier, Mexico had fought its 1810
revolution and gained independence from Spain. The new secular
governments had expelled many of the religious orders and had federalized
church property. Longfellow in the last few lines of the poem celebrates the
end of church domination in the new world.
"O Bells of San Blas, in vain
Ye call back the Past again!
The Past is deaf to your prayer;
Out of the shadows of night
The world rolls into light;
It is daybreak everywhere.
In his use of the word light in the second to last line, Longfellow likely refers to
the age of enlightenment. During this age of change, institutions, morals and
customs were being questioned and challenged throughout Europe and the
New World. The enlightenment would have been a common topic of
philosophical debate in Longfellow's meetings with other scholars during his
many trips to Europe.
the age of enlightenment. During this age of change, institutions, morals and
customs were being questioned and challenged throughout Europe and the
New World. The enlightenment would have been a common topic of
philosophical debate in Longfellow's meetings with other scholars during his
many trips to Europe.
The bells of
Longfellow's poem
once hung in the
belfry of the church
pictured right, now a
ruin on a hill to the
left as you enter the
town of San Blas.
For a time the bells
hung from a crude
wooden scaffold at
the base of the
church in the village.
They were then
moved into the belfry
of the church in the
center of town.
Longfellow's poem
once hung in the
belfry of the church
pictured right, now a
ruin on a hill to the
left as you enter the
town of San Blas.
For a time the bells
hung from a crude
wooden scaffold at
the base of the
church in the village.
They were then
moved into the belfry
of the church in the
center of town.
Mexico had adopted a constitution based on the US constitution, both influenced by the enlightenment, both
creating governments of a secular nature.
Longfellow was a lifelong supporter of the anti-slavery movement. This poem, his last, reveals his support for
the end of slavery and injustice. Some reviewers of the poem believe that it reveals Longfellow's nostalgia
for the past but the last six lines, added just before his death, would indicate his embracing of the future when
he wrote, "it is daybreak everywhere."
The Bells of San Blas was the last poem written by Henry W. Longfellow. He wrote it in March of 1882,
inspired by a travel article he had read in Harpers Magazine. He died on March 24 1882
Some information taken from Questia: See Full Poem: www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=3646607
Other views on the meaning of the Bells of San Blas:
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1248-did-you-know-the-bells-of-san-blas-nayarit-mexico
creating governments of a secular nature.
Longfellow was a lifelong supporter of the anti-slavery movement. This poem, his last, reveals his support for
the end of slavery and injustice. Some reviewers of the poem believe that it reveals Longfellow's nostalgia
for the past but the last six lines, added just before his death, would indicate his embracing of the future when
he wrote, "it is daybreak everywhere."
The Bells of San Blas was the last poem written by Henry W. Longfellow. He wrote it in March of 1882,
inspired by a travel article he had read in Harpers Magazine. He died on March 24 1882
Some information taken from Questia: See Full Poem: www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=3646607
Other views on the meaning of the Bells of San Blas:
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1248-did-you-know-the-bells-of-san-blas-nayarit-mexico
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San Blas has a Longfellow Connection. He wrote
about the Mexico Pacific Coast fishing village in
Nayarit in the Poem, The Bells of San Blas
about the Mexico Pacific Coast fishing village in
Nayarit in the Poem, The Bells of San Blas
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