The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1907-03-16

Oh, fear not In a world like this,
And thou shalt know ere long
Know how sublime q thing II Ia
To suffer and be strong.
Many OF our everyday phrases which
few that use them ever think Of cred
ting to Longfellow are from his PEN
as, "a banner with the strange de-
vice. from Excelsior" This ID the
forest primeval' from "Evangeline''
and "Ie has slnged the beard of the
king Of Spain" from 1.-THE Dutch Pic
ture"
This oft quoted appeal to patriotism,
Sail on. o ship Of stated
Sail on, o Union strong and great
Humanity with ali its fears.
With all the hopes Of future years,
Is hanging breathlsss on thy fatsi
IL from "The Building of the Ship" q
poem written before the civil war.
Lines to touch the heartstrings are
these from Resignation"
There Is no flock, however watched and
tended,
But one dead lamb Is there:
There 10 no fireside, howsos'er defended, |
But has one vacant chair.
And a most sublime flight Of the
poets fancy marks the closing stanza
OF 1.-THE Day IL Done" this marvellous
~ musical poem leading up TO
And the night shall be filed with music,
And the cares that infsst the day
shall fold their tents like tho Arabs
And as silently st@al away.
Iyongfellow meant TO write poetry.
He deliberately loaded his mind with
material, Hrst by going abroad and
then BY diligently studying the finest
models, delving among the treasures Of
classic literature. Early In his career
Longfellow called TO see Bryant, and
he acknowledged TO him that he had
been his disciple His work shows II.
I,ongfellow 10 lass austeFe than Bry-
ant. He was the popular poet Of the
English tongue, and even in England
he 10 better known today as the house
hold poet than Tennyson.
OF Longfellow's personal traits and
his fortunes In authorship Harvard
man, who had the poet for his tutor
from 1S46 70 1853 and enjoyed close
social relations with him to the close
OF his life In 1882. said recently:
In ''DvRngeiine' Longfellow frst estab-
lished In the English language the beauty
Of the hexameter verse. IL was first
ridiculed BY the press because tbs critics
said II was not rhyme, but the book had
an immense sale, and Its popularity grew
!, | Npn A an Iva ha
matter of Typography, paper ana printing
than any frBt work OF an American aus
J thors-in fact It was something superior
TO anything that had ever before APP
peared in America 1t was such q great
Z success that no decided to study more
and entered into deep historical research
In order to produce still greater works
Z He was very sensitive to the early criti-
D ctsms upon "Evangeline" and was greatly
encouraged by the comments of some
whose opinions he valued most highly
, HIS chief anxiety seemed to be about
the hexameter verse. for he had doubts
Of the propriety OF It's use In the frs
2 ambitious work OF an author. Finally hi
a | received praise OF this feature OF tht
poem and one authority said that haxam
eteF was tbs meter In which the Greel
q gods spoke. Then Longfellow declared
a that ne was glad that he had chosel
hexnmetoF. Another thing "Evangelino'
r was praised for was lta Americaniam
a the scene II laid In America. the ohaFac
tiers were Americans. ana the author wa
u an American.
4 'sfIiawAtha" came out after Longfel
low had given up his pTusessorship q
y Harvard. That, too, was q most com
"a pfete and instantaneous success more %
: lf possible, than ''Evanaelina," Their
% was also a disposition In some quarter
90 ridicule 'Hiawatha" and even to paI
ody II: but. like tn predecessors
:, grew In favor. The success of 'nvaT
! geline'' was undoubtedly n spur to Ions
fellows ambition.
y AZ for the personal traits Of Longfe
IA low, consider him tho greatest CONVEX
sationalist ever knew His talk wa
p mpiritualised poetry Whenever he toucl
Cd q subject II would fash like an ale,
trio spark. In general his methods
conversation and In literature reminds
Dt me OF those OF our Saviour when speal
u Ing In parallels. His writings are n
sayings Of Jesus drawn out in tho iai
lt guags OF to-day for wider diffusion Lon
~ fellow brought out his meaning by u
use Of beautiful anecdotes In mannt
~ and dress he was perfect man.
n Like the German. Frelllgrath. viii
ne whom he maintained lifelong frien,
~ ship, I.ongfellow was the poet OF u
" masses, as democratic as the most g
~ aakinw AwaaNlNaU aon,Aa aahe Rn,. A.