, 1883-04-12
LONGFELLOU.


Poems
The "Psalm of Life" which is so ia
miliar to every one, was written by Mr..
Longfellow Mt a single sitting one bright
July morning in 1888, as he sat alone
burdened with n great sorrow, below
two windows Mt small table in his
chamber. It WAS after the death of his
wife, to whom he was devotcdly at
tached, and who was burned to death
despite his efforts to snve her. The
Psalm came to his mind without ap-
parent effort, for his heart was full OF
the subject ana of the affection for the
life that had heon SO much TO him and
had gone ont
The tine ha|,al, "Thc Wreck of the
Hesperus," WAS written in 1889. A
aorm had devastated the coast al day,
and the winds wuistisd about his house
MS he smoked his pipe by the fire. He
went to bed, but So full Of the idea of a
wreck WAS his mind that he arose and
wrote the celebrated poem. "The
clock was striking D." says Longsellow,
"when finished the last stanza."
The "Skeleton in Armor," which is
one of lis strongest and certainly the
most weird Of all his poems, was written
in 1Sl9. A shot time before u skeleton
had been oxhumel at Fall River, and,
being clad in a broken and rusty armor,
made deep impression upon the poet.
Near Fall River is Newport, where stands
the old tower, said to have been erected
by the Norsemen about the year 1000.
To connect the two by the ballad was
the poets inspiration. His mind wss
full of the wild romance Of Skadinavian,
Danish, and German literature, and
some Of it was woven into the "Skele-
ton in Armor," which is, SO far as grand
eur is concerned, the most noticeable Of
oil his poems.
The ELECTED knights " is also Dan
ish in its origin, and Mr.. Longfellow
caught the idea from a ballad of that
country. Tho "Tales of y Wayside
Inn" were inspired by an old
New England tavern with which
the poet was familiar in his youth,
and many of the scenes were real to him.
The "Song Of Riawatha was, per-
haps, the most studied of all his poems,
for he hoped to write an American lyric
that should endure. To portray the
romance of fast-fading race and pay
tribute to the aborigines OF America was
fitting theme for the poet. The
legends were mostly taken from School
craft, whose love for adventure and
poetry had brought him into contact
with the indians, and he had drawn
from them the most romantic pictures
of their life. The songs arc strung
together upon the ample thread Of
everyday events into tale of Indian
life the charm Of which is irresistible.
I'm no poem does the poets wonderful
nrt in selecting words that both from
their meaning md sound fit them to
carry the thoughts he intends to convey
appear to better advantage thar in
(" Hiawatha. He intended that his
fame as q poet should rest upon that
work, and to limit was what the "Idyls
of the King" is to Tennyson.
When Evangeline was written, Mr..
Iongfellow had never been in Nova
Scotia. tho 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 minutely
described. Longtellow 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 " Evangeline was the
sesult. 1t is simply surprising that SO
graphic aud 80 perfect descriptions
could have been given without per-
sonal inspection of the region, but the
poet never saw the spot he so minutely
describes
The "Hauging OF the Crane" is a
poem the origin OF which is suggested
by the lines themselves. It was pub
lished in the New York Ledger, Mr..
Bonner paying $1,000 for the poem Of
200 lines.
a great many OF his poems, like 'tTha
Bridge" and Beware" have been ses
to music and have become popular.
Longfellov's prose reads like a poem,
and no one who has not the Hfine