The enquirer southerner., 1874-05-15
TIE
enquirer -Soutbsrntr. s


How Some of Longfelow's Poems
were Written.
Mr.. James I. Fields, in his Ices
ture on Longfellow given here the
other evening, gave these interests
ing details concerning the poet:
1t is always interesting to know
under what circumstances IL poet
has framed an immortal poem or.
sonnet or song. AS | happen to
know something of the origin and
birth of many of LongfsIlow's pa
ems, let me divulge few seere's in
regard to them. The psalm of
Llte - came into existence on
bright Summer morning in July,
1888, in Cambridge, as the poet sal
between two windows at the small
table in the corner Of mis- chamber.
1t was a voice from his inmCst heart
and kept it some time in manuscript,
unwilling to part with it. 1t ex~
pressed his own feelings a. that
time, when he was rallying from
the depression Of deep affliction,
and he hid the poem in his own
heart for many months. He was
accused of taking the famous verse,
Art Is long and time Is feeting,"
from Bishops poem, but | happen
to know that was not IN his mind.
and that the thought came 10 him
with as much freshness and original
lty as if nothing had been written
before. There IS Il reaper whose
name is death y crystallIzed at once,
without effort, in the poets mind,
and he wrote it rapidly down, with
tears filling his eyes as he composed
it. "The Light Of the Stars VS.
composed as the poet looked out
upon a calm and beautiful Summer
evening, exactly suggestive of the
poem. The moon, a little strip OF
silver, was just setting behind
Mount Auburn, and Mars was blaz.
ing in the south. That fine ballad,
1.-The Wreck of the Hesperus,
was written in 1889. \ violent
storm had occurred the night be-
fore, and as the poet sat smoking
his pipe about midnight by the fire,
the wrecked Hesperus came sailing
INTO his mind. He went to bei,
but the poem had seized him, and he
could not sleep. He got up and
wrote the celebrated verses. 'The
clock was striking three he said.
when finished the last stanza.
| 1t did not come into his mind by
lines, but by whole stauzas, hardly
causing him an effort, but flowing
without let or hinderance.
One of the best known Of all
Longfellow's shorter poems is ''Ex
cesior." " The word happened to
catch his eye late one Autumn even
ing in 1841 on a torn piece of news
paper, and straightway his magma
| ton touk fire at it. Taking the
first piece of paper at hand, which
happened to be the back of a Litter
received that night from Charles
Sumner, Longfellow crowded it
with verses. As first written down,
Excelsior" differs from the per
fected and published poem; but it
shows in its original conception a
rush and glow worthy the theme
and the author. On a Summer a :
ternoon in 1849, as he was riding
on the beach, 1.-The Skeleton in
Armor rose as out OF the deep
before him and would not BIZ laid.
The story of "Evangeline was first
suggested to Hawthorne by a friend
| who wished hiE to found romance
upon it. Hawthorne did not quite
coincide with the idea, and hanled
the theme to Longteilow, who saw
at once all the essential qualities of
u deep and tender idyI.
Since Pope, no poet has been
more quoted ttan Longfe'low. He
has added to the stock of English
letters and speech as many
llues. couplets, and verses as any
other IF a hundred years. This Is
a sure test of poetic thought and
inspiration. You must look to
Shakespeare and few other great
ones for larger currency of ex~
preston than our American Long
fellow had. The mottoes on thou
sands Of title pages are from him
if you 60 to EngIanI, you will hear
him cited in Parliament, in West~
minister He'll, and in the clthedral;
every pulpit admits him, for his
thou ght is wide enough to embrace
all creeds AMI all spiritualities in
his hallowed and responsive verse.
1t is because he humanizes every
thing he touches, that his Tyre has
nothing alien to any soil. | have
heard him quoted by an American
monk with cowl, and l have heard
him sung by "a band of humble
worshipers in camp meeting among
the hills of New Hampshire. No
heart but can receive him and find
consolation in his melodies, and
this is one reason why he is one o.
the most popular Of all poets writ
ing English. Snme one seeing &
copy of one of his books lying in
low drinking saloon has said, ''Thi,
is indeed true fame The poorvs
cottager, if he have any books a
all, must be sure to have something
that Longfrllow wrote. Being o,se
taken in the country by night,
found lodging in a humble house
| ,.o. slnro +o a likrlo mann OnY