Daily globe., 1883-07-28
LONGFELLOW.
The Origin of Some of the Great Bard


Longfellow at single sitting one bright
July morning in 1888, as he sat alone
burdened with great sorrow, below
two windows at a small table in his
chamber. It was after the death OF his /
wife, to whom he was devotedly at |
tached, and who was burned to death |
despite his efforts to save her. The |
" Psalm came to his mind without ap-
parent effort, for his heart was full OF |
the 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 in 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
went to bed, but SO full of the idea of
wreck was his mind that he arose and
wrote the celebrated poem. "Tne
clock was striking g." says Longfellow,
"when I finished the last stanza."
The Skeleton in Armor," which is
one of his strongest and certainly the
most weird of all his poems, was written
in 1849 A short time before skeleton
had been exhumed at Fall River, and,
being clad in a broken and rusty armor,
made deep impression upon the poet.
Near Fall River is Newport, Understands
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 was
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
all his poems.
The effected Knights is also Dan
ish in its origin, and Mr.. Longfellow
caught the idea from ballad of that
country. The "Tales of a Wayside
Inn we're 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 Hiawatha " 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
! a 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 are strung
together upon the simple thread of
everyday events into a tale of Indian
life, the charm of which is irresistible.
La no poem does the poets wonderful
art in selecting words that both from
their meaning and sound fit 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 "Idyis
of the King" is to Tennyson.
When Evangeline was written, Mr..
Longfellow had never been in Move
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 Longfellov
by a 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. Longfeilow jotted down the
words as they fell from the narrator!
lips. and asked that the subject be giver
to him alone for a poem. The reques
was granted and Evangeline was the
result. It is simply surprising that 81
graphic and SO perfect description
, could have been given without per
sonal inspection of the region, but tn
poet never saw the spot he SO minutely
describes.
, The Hanging of the Crane" " is
, poem the origin Of which is suggested
by the lines themselves. Ct was pub
lished in the New York Ledger, Mr.
Bonner paying 81. 900 for the poem o
: 200 lines.
A great many Of his poems, like 9th
Bridge" and "Beware, " have been sc
to music and have become popular
Longfellow's prose reads like a poem
and no one who has not the "in
frenzy" could have written the poetic
prose Of Kavanagh." The homel
scenes and events of New England ill
form the groundwork Of the story, Int
which are woven such characters 4
Alice and Cecile, which are drawn wit
the skill of an artist and the grace OF
poet. The sad death Of Lucy and tn
illness and death of Alice are as touch
ing as anything in English literature