Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-09-15
LOngieli0w's Last Afternoon with
Children.

He has gone from us forever:
He has moved little nearer
TO the Master of all music
TO the Master of all singing"
In the early part of March, some lads
belonging to the Dwight School, Boston,
wished to visit Prof. Longfellow, with
whose poems they were becoming IA
miliar.
"Let US write to him." said one of
the boys. sand ask his permission to
call on him some holiday afternoon"
They consulted their teacher, who
favored the plan, and the following note
was sent to the poet:
"HENRY W. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Sir: Would
4 be agreeable to You to receive call from
four boys of the Dwight SCHOOL,
Four names were signed to the note.
In few days the following answer
was returned:
"Mr. Longfellow would be pleased to meet
the boys Of the Dwight School on Saturday
The boys were delighted. They pro-
give to the poet, and on Saturday after
noon, March 18th, went to Cambridge,
and made the last visit to Longfellow
that he ever received. Soon after they
left him. he walked on the piazza of the
ancient house, and being there exposed
to the raw March winds, he contracted
the sudden illness that ended his life.
On their way to Cambridge, the boys
left Boston by the Charles River bridge,
over which necessarily day and night a
procession of footsteps goes and returns,
Is restless as the tide that GIBBS and
flows among the wooden piers and there
makes its ceaseless murmur.
A horse-car ride of half an hour took
the boys past Harvard College, where
the poet had spent many happy years
ss |. professor, to his homeLthe man.
sion that Washington made famous
In history as his headquarters. 1t re:
sembles the one described in "The Old
Clock on the Stairs
Thispoem was suggested by the French
words, "Toujours! jamais! Jamais T!
toujours!"
In that house the Psalm of Life "
was written. This poem, which to-day
is known and admired wherever the
English language is spoken, was at first
not intended for publication, but was
merely an expression of the poets own
views and purposes.
Longfellow once told the writer OF
this article the story of the composition
of this poem, and added the following
pleasing incident:
"As / was returning from my visit To
the Queen in London, laborer came
up to my carriage and extended his
hand. Il wish, he said, 'to shake hands
with the author of "Thc Psalm of
Lhei"' Few incidents of my life have
been more pleasing. That was a COM
pliment I could appreciated"
The poet received the boys most cor
daily and graciously, accepted their
present of flowers, and expressed his
pleasure in it. He then showed them
the historic rooms. and the articles as
ISOLATED with Washington's residence
there. He was accustomed to exhibit to
older visitors piece of Dante's coffin,
Coleridge's inkstand, and Thomas
Moore's wastc-paper basket.
The old poet, crowned with his white
hair, chatted pleasantly awhile with the
four boys, whose faces wore the beauty
8uu luuulSitlNc lItCAiir.SHSO VI thO yOst .
that had vanished from him forever.
One Of the lads, a Master Lane, then
asked him question which must have
revived tender memories: ''ln yonr
poem on the River Charles" he said,
s'there is q stanza beginning in some
books with the line -Four long years of
mingled feeling In other books it be-
gins with 'Fo- long years with mingled
feeling Will you please tell me which
Is rightP''
"sFour long years." answered the
poet, thoughtfully.
els that the River Charlcs?" asked
one of the boys, pointing outside.
The poet looked out on the flowing
stream. It was almost the last time
that he gazed upon it; perhaps The last
time that his attention was directed 20 it.
"Yes," said he, mournfully, in answer.
ssthst Is the Charles"
The poet babe the lads an affectionate