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Audiobook edition · 8 h 0 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the road through grief leads past Rhine castles, old legends, and feelings you thought were gone?
In Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s prose romance Hyperion, Paul Flemming travels through Germany and the Alps after a deep personal loss. The young American scholar turns toward books, landscapes, and new friends in the hope of restoring his spirit. Along the Rhine, castles open the way to tales of knights and ghosts, while poets and music give his wandering journey its quiet rhythm.
In Switzerland and the Alps, Paul meets Mary Ashburton, a thoughtful Englishwoman whose company awakens feelings he believes are buried. The Baron of Hohenfels offers hospitality and conversation, adding another voice to Paul’s travels. Beneath these encounters lies a gentle question: how can someone make room for life again without forgetting the person they have lost?
What you’ll discover
- A landscape full of legends Follow the Rhine past castles where old stories bring knights and ghosts into view.
- A traveler in mourning Walk beside Paul as he seeks comfort in landscapes, friendship, and the books he loves.
- The stirrings of hope Meet Mary Ashburton, whose thoughtful presence draws Paul toward feelings he thinks are gone.
- Room for poets and music Enjoy a wandering romance that pauses for books, conversation, and the pleasures of reflection.
- Healing without forgetting Explore Longfellow’s suggestion that recovery begins by slowly widening attention beyond sorrow.
Who will love it
For readers who love reflective travel writing, nineteenth century Romanticism, and stories of mourning and recovery, with landscapes, legends, poets and music along the way.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A grieving scholar sets out for Germany
- Legends and poets fill the road
- Mary Ashburton and the pull of new hope
- Grief, beauty and a romance that wanders
Who’s who
- Paul FlemmingA young American scholar who travels through Germany in mourning and hopes that books, landscapes and new friends can restore his spirit.
- Mary AshburtonAn thoughtful Englishwoman whom Flemming meets on his travels and whose company awakens feelings he had thought were gone.
- The Baron of HohenfelsA German nobleman who offers Flemming hospitality and conversation, and who belongs to the old world of castles and legends.
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Hyperion
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · 1839
A grieving scholar travels through Germany and the Alps, seeking beauty and a reason to feel alive again.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A grieving scholar sets out for Germany
The story opens with Paul Flemming, a young American who has come to Europe in sorrow. He has lost someone dear to him, and the world around him has gone gray. He is a scholar and a dreamer, and he hopes that new places and old books can give him back some interest in life.
Flemming does not travel with a plan or a goal. He drifts along the Rhine and through German towns, noticing what a quiet and wounded person notices. A church bell, a river bend, or a face in a crowd can pull him out of himself for a moment, and then let him fall back.
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What is Hyperion by Longfellow about?
It follows Paul Flemming, a grieving young American who travels through Germany and Switzerland. Through landscapes, legends and a new acquaintance, he slowly begins to recover his interest in life and love.
Is Hyperion a true story?
It is a work of fiction, but it draws on Longfellow's own travels in Europe and on his grief after a personal loss. Many readers see Flemming as partly a portrait of the author.
When was Hyperion published?
Longfellow published Hyperion in 1839. It was one of his early major works in prose, written before his most famous narrative poems.
The author
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1807–1882 · American poet
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of America's most celebrated nineteenth-century poets, a Harvard professor whose works — Evangeline, Paul Revere's Ride, and The Song of Hiawatha — made him a household name on both sides of the Atlantic.
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