The Portland daily press., 1882-04-19
give fitting close to the narrative? Who
NJ LII omit those Two lines,


ssNeyer to blend our pleasure or our pride
With sorrow of the meanest thing that liyes7
No poet knows better than Longfellow how
to impress moral without seeming to preach.
Ddactc verse, as such, is no doubt formlda-
BILE visitation, but a cathedral has its lesson TO
teach as we'll as a schoolhouse. These beauti-
full medallons of verse which Longfellow has
left us might possibly be found fault with as
conveying too much useful and elevatlng truth
in their legends; having the unartistic aim OF
being serviceable as we'll as delighting by tnelr
beauty Let us leave such comment to the
critics, who cannot handle golden coin fresh
from the royal mint without clipping its edges
and stamping their own initials on its face.
OF the longer poems of our chief singer l
should not hesitate 10 select "Evangeline" as
the masterpiece, and think the general YER
dict of opinion would confirm my choice. The
German model which it follows in its measure
and the character of its story was itself sug-
gested by an earlier idyl. If Dorothea was the
mother of Evangeline, Luise vas the mot her
of Dorothea. And what beautiful creation
is the Acadian maiden From the first line OF
the poem-from its first words we reaa as we
would float down broad and placid river,
murmuring softly against its banks, heaven
over it, and the glory Of the unspoiled wilder
ness all around
sThis is the forest primeyal."
The words are already familiar as
'Menin aeide thea
"Arma vrumque cano"
The hexameter has often been criticized, but
l not believe any other measure could have
told that lovely story with such effect as we
feel when carried along the tranquil current OF
these trimming, slow-moving soul-satisfying
lines. Imagine story like this minced into
octosyllabics The poet knows better than his
critics the length of step which best BELTS his
muse.
will not take up your time with any fur
Their remarks upon writings SO we'll known to
ALL By the poem 1 have last mentioned, and
by bis lyrics, or shorter poems, think the
name of Longfellow will be longest remem-
bered. Whatever he wrote, whether in prose
orspoetry. bore always the marks of the finest
scholarship, the purest taste, fertile imagina-
ton, a sense of the music OF words, and a skill
in bringing it out of our English tongue, which
is hardly more than one of his contemporaries
who write in that language can be said to
equal.
The saying OF Button that the style is the
man himself, or Of the man himself, as some
versions have it, was never truer than in the
case of our beloved poet. Let us understand
by style all that gives individuality to the ex-
preston of writer, and in the subjects, the
handling, the-spirit and aim of his poems we
see the reflex of a personal character which
made him worthy OF that almost unparalleled
homage which crowned his noble life. Such
funeral procession as attended him in thought
to his last resting place has never joined the
train of mourners that followed the hearse of
poet-could we not say Of any private citizen?
And we all feel that no tribute could be too
generous, too universal, to the union of q
divine gift with one of the loveliest of human
characters.