Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-04-06
Death Of the Poet Longfellow.

Agreat loss has fallen upon American 1t
.rature. One of our greatest, most admired
and best loved poets, Henry W. Longfelow,
has passed away at the ripe age of seventy
five. and in his de ath, which cannot be called
untimely, for he had finished his work and his
fame was established, this country will sin
cerely mourn the loss of an accomplished and
loyahle gentleman, a ripe and versatile schoE
ar and a graceful and refined Poet, whose
poems will professionally become classic
and stand as models of pure and elegant En-
glish.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born at
Portland, Me-, February q, 1907, and was
graduated at Bowdoin College in 1925. Dur
ing his collegiate career he showed unmis-
taxable signs of poetic talent. He at first en-
tered his fathers Office to study law, but soou
abandoned it to take the Professorshlp OF
Modern Languages and Literature in Bowdoln,
with the privilege of going abroad for pur-
poses of study. He was absent in Europe
three years, and upon his return hiled MS
Professors chair five years. During this time
he wrote several brief fugitive POEMS, and
also published his Outre Mer" In 1885 he
succeeded Mr.. Mcknor as Professor OF Modern
Languages and Belles-Lettres at Harvard
University, and held the position until 1884,
enr.ching these years with splendid proofs OF
his scholarship and poetical genius and great
ly increasing the dignity OF American letters
at home and abroad, so that he ultimately re-
ceived distinguished honors, not only from
Harvard, but from the great English universf-
ties of Cambridge and Oxford, which have
rarely recognized American literary trfumphs-
He resigned his Professorship at Harvard in
1854, but continued to reside in Cambridge in
L e..l f,v,as lsa~l In
known as Washington's headquarters, which
has been the literary Mecca Of this country.
In that quiet and charming home, looking
out upon graceful lawns and gardens and
shaded by giant elms, he has passed his days,
interrupted by occasional visits to Europe,
where he was always received with special
honor. In the old rooms, where his, genial
presence will now be sadly missed, he received
his friends who focked to see him, dis
pensed his graceful hospitality, and wrote
those volumes of poems which from time to
time have SO charmed his countrymen and
the world. And what list they make,
and how beautiful all of them are-so
beautiful that each new one will call up
many advocates, claiming it's excellence over
the Others. The list of the more important ia
as follows: "Coplas de Manrique," trans
lation (S33); "Outer Mer'' Qs35); ely
perion'' Qs39); "Voices of the Night"
QS39}; "Ballads and Other Poems y Qs4D;
"Poems ON Slavery QS42); "Thc Spanish
Student :" 1s43); Poets and Poetry of Eu-
rope " QS45); The Belfry of Bruges Qs46);
"Evangeline Os4O; Kavanagh," tale
Qs4s); 'seaside and Fireside - Qs5o);
"The Golden Legend " 1S5D; 1.-THE Song
of Hiawatha" Qs55); "The Courtship
of Miles standish :" t1s5s); "Tales of
Wayside Inn uses); Glover de
Luce !" QS67); 1.-The New England
Tragedies - Qs6s); "The Divine Trag-
edy" Qs72); aftermath u Qs7D; and
The Hanging of the Crane ~ QST4). Among
his great translations is that of Dante's
"Divina Commedia - into verse, which IL
everywhere recognized model translation.
AS poet Mr.. Longfellow was peculiarly re-
mar1able for the absolute purity, sweetness,
refinement and melody of his verse. He was
in quick sympathy with all that belongs to
humanity, and, though rarely sounding the
great depths of passion, he swept every string
of beauty, pathos and tenderness, and was
pre-eminently the poet of the home. In the
whole range of his poetry there is nothing
coarse, nothing bitter, nothing that does not
attract the reader to him and make him better
for the reading. He has not left a lire which
he could wish unwritten. He was master OF
beauty. The Titan among poets, and especially
the master of the finer and tenderer emotions
of the heart, and for this reason he appealed to
the hearts of all and entered the circle of every
American home as a welcome and honored
guest. 1t is impossible at this time and in
this place to do full justice to the memory
and the works of the great poet. 1t is only
the sad duty of the newspaper chronicer to
announce the tidings of his death, which will
bring sorrow into many homes, and to mourn
the loss of SO honored and revercd a name in
the world of American literature, leaving to
others not engaged in the press and whirl of
daily news the grateful duty of paying the
need of honor due to the poet.-CAicago Trih
N,H.