Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-02-27

the carly simplicity, thai those Of any
| other modern English writing author
! of its kind there is nothing better in
the language than the skeleton in
| Armor." with its splendid lyric swing,
and the "Villagc blacksmith" and the
| Wreck of the Eesperus" are almost as
good. Excelsior i'll the same volume,
| voices the noble aspirations Of youth
I and has been taken to heart by tEou-
| sands Of boys and girls.
| J.ongfcllow went to Europe again IN
|1SI2 This time for the restoration OF
his then impaired health. The next
wear he married Frances Appleton, OF
! Boston daughter Of u wealthy Boston
merchant About the same time ne
! published the Spanish Student a play
! not intended iur the the.iter and lack
! ing the tir.l matte movement tnat the
! stage demands. Tire. years later he
ri,bi;shcd the ''Eclfry OF BruScs, IN
which will lie found NOR" than one or
| his finest poems, among them the "Oid
| Clock on the stairs" ana the Arsenal
ut Springfield
Having heard from Hawthorne the
pathctic legend Of two Arcaclan lovers,
Darted on their marriage morn, when
the peOple OF the French province Ne"e
shipped away by the British anthori-
ties, he made the story the motive OF
| "E,yangeline," which he published IN
1871. 'Tn which he sweeps with broad,
assured, hexameter pinions, ffo!a the
fir fretted valleys of Arcadia to the
lazy, languorous tides which surge
silently through the bayous or
Louisiana" says that admirin2 critic,
Donald Grant Mitchell.
II was in 1S49 that Longfellow pub
lished his last prose book, KAY
anagh, q dreamy tale that Haw-
thorne hailed as true picture OF
life" The next year he gathered int"
volume The Seaside and the Fire
side, a score of short poems, includ-
ing the Fire of Driftwood, and Tie
Building of the Ship. With the sea
as subject Longfellow had always 4
double share of inspiration, for he re-
tanned in manhood his boyish love for |
the deep, and his sympathetic under |
standing .. its mysteries. |
In 1854 ne resigned his professOrshiD, |
but continued to live i'll CGnbridgc. |
His next poem. Hiawatha. was written |
in a metre borrowed from an old Finn |
ish poem. the Kalalava, and was pub
lished in 1866; il dealt with a peculiar
ly American subject the legends and |
life OF the aborigineS. In 1885 appear !
ed the Cpurtship of Miles Standish, in |
which was interviewer the story Of his
own ancestors.
In July, 1861, Mrs. LongfelIow was |
burned to death, and Longfellow HIM
self was SO seriously burned in trying
to extinguish the flames which killed
her that he was unable to be present
at the funeral. To give himself oc-
Cupation and divert his mind after this |
tragic occurrence, he translated Dante's
Divina Commedia. which. however, was
not published until 1867. Meanwhile |
he. in 1865, sent forth volume of |
poems, containing. among others, the
ringing lines on the sinking of the
Cumberland; and in 1861 he put out |
the collection. Flower de Luce. and |
Other Poems. which included his
touching poem on the death of Haw-
thornc. his college classmate and life
long friend.
The first part Of Tales OF a Waysi6o
Inn. was published as early as 1859.
and WAS followed, after considerabic.1
interval, by the two other parts, in
1872 and 1873. Among the Tales arc
lads. such as Paul Reverc's Ride. King
Robert of Sicily. and Scandcrbeg
These productions added much to !:
popularity that was already as wide
as the English speaking world. and
which. indeed, went beyond it's bounds.
for his poems are translated into near
~ every European tongue
In 1868 LOngfo How went again to
Europe, taking his daughters with him.
while he was in England the Eniver-
sites of Oxford and Cambridge con
ierred honorary degrees upon him. |
on ms return he took up and finished
his largest work. Christus, a Mvstery
IN which he finely combined the Divine
tragedy, the Golden Legend and the ,
New England Tragedies. His liking &
LOT inc dramatic form grew in his later
years. and the Masque of Pandora.
published In 1875, was actually set 10
music ana sung upon the stage b,It |
Win httle success. Afterwards he :
wrote ahotner tragedy, Judas Macca-
peus' ana after his death yet annother
pay Michael Angelo was found in his
ueSh almost finished. There are fnn |
pa'SdscS IN all these poems, but no ,
'He VI MS attempts at pIay-makinr
" as received with the popular approval
liiat greeted his ballads and other
work. '''e'
Two Of the longer Of his later poems
me Hanging Of the Crane" $50. and
hefamos.' GS7S), show that his hand
had not lost its cunning as the noet
grew older; and nothing he had writ :.
-en excelled in sonorous rhythm and r
II io1ty sentiment the poem which he
eau IN 1875, at the fiftieth anniyersary $
;. ms graduation from Bowdoin +
Morituri Salutamus" This was read a
y MN IN the college church at Bruns- $
s,ck at the commencement In lime 8
lie,
MS poetic gifts continued to hear II II
se,io" and rich fruit even to the end
i ms life; and among the lyrics in is