River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1882-12-14
xOTGrEIIOT.
Tho Origin u ONE Of The Great Bortss

Tho Origin u One Of The Great Bcrtss
Poems.
The s. Psalm oil Life" which is 30 fa-
miliar 10 every one, was written BY Mr..
Lopgfellow at single sitting one bright
July morning ia 1888, as he sat alone
bnrleaed with a great sorrow, below
two windows at small table in his
chamber. 1t was after the death of his
wife, to whom he was devotedly at
ta.iled, ard who was burned to death
4, spita his efforts to save her. The
+" Pam came TO his mind without APP
parent effort. for his heart was full OF
tue subject and Of the affection for the
life that had been SO much TO him and
had gone out.
The fine ballad, "The Wreck of the
Hesperus, was written III 1889. A
storm had devastated the coast all day,
and the winds whistled about his house
as he smoked his pipe by the fire. He
vent to bed, but 80 full of the idea Of
wreck was his mind that he arose and
wrote the celebrated poem. q The
clock was striking 8, says Longfellow,
when finished the last stanza.
The "Skeleton in Armor," which is
me Of his strongest and certainly the
nest weird of all his poems, was written
j 1919 A short time before skeleton
,ad been exhumed at Fall River, and,
1eing clad in broken and rusty armor,
made deep impression upon the poet.
Year Fall River is Newport, Understands
The old tower, said to have been erected
y the Norsemen about the year 1000.
10 connect the two by the ballad was
he poets inspiration. His mind was
nh Of the wild romance of Scandinavian,
Danish, and German literature, and
ONE of it was woven into the "Skele-
on in Armor," which is, so far as grand
mr. is concerned, the most noticeable of
II his poems.
The g Elected Knights " is also Dam
sh in its origin, and Mr.. Longfellow
,aught the idea from ballad of that
,ouatry. The .'Tales of Wayside
un" were inspiled by an old
Gew England tavern with which
he poet was familiar in his youth,
1nd many Of the scenes were real 10 him.
Tie "Song of HiawathA was, per-
APPS, the most studied OF all his poems,
K r he hoped to write an American lyric
iat should endure. To portray the
omance Of ia t-fading race and pay
tribute to the ahorigines of America was
fitting theme for the poet. The
legends were nj ,stly taken from School,
craft, whose love for adventure and
D, etry had brought him tito contact
with the indians, and he had drawn
FROM them the most romantic pictures
of their life. The songs are strung
together upon the simple thread OF
ry-day events into tale Of Indian
life, the charm of which is irresi. tible.
In no poem does the poets wonderful
art in selecting words that both from
their meaning and sound tit them to
carry the thoughts he intends to convey
appear to better advantage than in
Hiawatha." He intended that his
fame as poet should rest upon that
work, and to him it was what the "Idyls
of the King !" is to Tennyson.
When " Evangeline was written, Mr..
Longfellow had never been i'll Nova
Scotia, the scene in which the charming
poem is laid. The accounts of the trou-
bles of the early settlers in Acadia were
related to Hawthorne and Longfellow
by mutual friend, who was anxious
that the former should make them the
subject of romance. The legend was
repeated, and Grand Pre- was infinitely
described. Longfellow jotted down the
words as they fell from the narrator's
lips, and asked that the subject be given
to him alone for poem. The request
was granted and g Evangeiine was the
result. 1t is simply surprising that go
graphic and so perfect descriptions
could have been given without a per-
sonal inspection of the region, but the
poet never saw the spot he so minutely
describes.
The changing Of the Crane" is a
poem the origin of which is suggested
by the lines themselves. 1t was pub.
lished in the New York Ledger, Mr..
Bonner paying 81 900 for the poem of
200 lines.
A great many of his poems, like " The
Bridge and Beware" have been set
to music and have become popular.
Longfellow's prose reads like poem,
and no one who has not the Zine
frenzy" could have written the poetical
prose of Kavanagh." The homely
scenes and events of New England life
form the groundwork of the story, into
which are woven such characters as
Alice and Cecile, which are drawn with
The skill OF an artist and the grace of @
,oet. The sad death of Lucy and the
llness and death of Alice are as touch
ng as anything in English literature.
An old topper complained to doctor
hat the ardent failed to exhilarate his
rits. The doctor, knowing the inor
Ia te nature of his appetite, told him
. had better try aqua FORTS. A short
II after ward he-was surprised by an
ar visit from the individual. WHO told