The Advocate and news., 1898-03-23
4
COOPERATIVE READING CLUBS.
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AMERICAN LITERATURE COURSE.
LESSON VIII. PART 2.
THE CAMBRIDGE sCHOLARs--I.
HENRY WADSWoRTH LONGFEL4-
LOW (1SO7-1S82).
A REVIEW on HIs WRITINGS.
(From Beers' OutlIne Studles.l

"LongfellOws fame began with his
Voices OF the Night Excepting an
earlier collection by Bryant, this was
the first volume of real poetry pub
lished in New England, and 1t had
more warmth and sweetness, greater
richness and variety, than Bryants
work ever possessed.
"Three later collections, Ballads and
Other Poems, 1912, the 'Belfry OF
Bruges,' 1846, and the Seaside and the
Fireside,' 1850, comprise most Of what
is noteworthy in LongfellOw's minor
poetry. The first OF these embraced,
together with some renderings from the
German and the Scandinavian Ian
guages, specimens OF stronger original
work than the author had yet put forth,
namely, the two powerful ballads Of
the Skeleton in Armor' and the Wreck
Of the Hesperus.'
'In the 'Belfry Of Bruges' and the
Seaside and the Fireside' the transla-
tions were stiM kept up, and among the
original pieces were the 'OcCulatiOn OF
Orion'-the most imaginative Of all Of
Longfellow's poems.
"In 1S47 was published the poem Of
'EVangeline,' and whatever may be held
as to Longfellow's inventive poems, as
creator of characters or an interpreter
Of American life, his originality as an
artist is manifested by his successful
domestiCatlOn In 'Evangeline'
"Evangeline" and "The Courtship Of
Miles Standlsh" are both written in hex
ameter verse.
LESSON QUESTIONS.
/. How did the exceptionally fine ad-
vantages OF LongfellOw's early life COM
pare with that OF Whittier?
2. What was his frst printed poem?
3. In what other work was LOngfel-
low engaged aside from his literary
work?
4. Did he ever write prose? a.
s. What experiments did LOngfellOw
make In dramatic writings? b.
6. Why was his poetry so popular?
Z. What Ia hexameter verse? c.
8. What meter Is used In "Hlawa-
tina? d.
8. What translations did he under
take? e.
TO- Give your favorite quotation from
LOngfellow.
SIDE LIGHTS.
a. Hyperion" published In 1889,
which Is lettering fiction, Interpreted
with descriptions Of European travel,
is said to be a weak, sentimental book.
b. "The Golden Legend" Is the only
dramatic experiment Of Longfell0w that
is worthy of mention.
C. There are thirteen to seventeen syl-
lables In line, making 1t very long.
II Is the meter which the Greek poet
Homer and the Latin poet Virgil used.
d. It is the quaint meter Of uncivil-
lied nations. There Ia NO rhyme, and
many repetitions In the lines-the trip
ping trochalc measure he borrowed from
the Finnish epic "Kalevala."
e. He translated the great work Of
the famous italian poet DANTE who Lived
in the thirteenth century and who wrote
the "DiVina COmmedia," describing
heaven, hell and purgatOry."
Longfellow translated from the Scan
dinavlan, Swedish, German, Spanish
and other languages, thus bringing us
beautiful poems that we may not other
wise have heard.
SUMMARY.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, born
at Portland, Me-, February n, aSO1.
He lived for more than forty years at
Cambridge, Mass. Was graduate OF
BowdOin college, Maine; was professor
Of modern languages there fve years,
and afterwards at Harvard for seven
teen years. Was married twice and
made four trips to the Old World. He
died March "a, 1882.
Silently, one by one, In the infinite
meadows OF heaven,
BlOssomed the lovely stars, the forget
me-nots OF the Angels"