Longfellow's Poem 'The Jewish Cemetery At Newport'

Longfellow in his poem ‘The Jewish Cemetery at Newport’, opens the scene with a cemetery in a “sea-port town” (Line 2). He instantly creates the imagery of an ocean and waves coming into the shore, much like how emigrants from the old world would come upon the shores of America. Longview describes these waves as “moving up and down” (Line 4) similar to the Jewish people’s long history of struggle; on occasions they enjoy peace: the ups, and then there is persecution: the downs. In his second stanza, Longfellow observes the vegetation, “trees are white with dust” (Line 5) these trees covered in dust are witnesses of the passing time. The “leafy tents” (Line 7) represent the nomadic lives of the Jewish people and the phrase “Exodus of Death”