The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1907-02-21

Rim CETON JIM ON:
remarkable as well as admirable.
There was nothing Of the pedant in.
him. Yet the ancient and modern Ian
guages were at his tongues end, one
might say, and both by reading and
travel he knew the world Of the past
and the present An unaffected nat.
ural simplicity was, in fact, the pre-
vailing note in Longfellow's life as in.
his writings.
No Infant Prodigy.
Longfellow was no infant prodigy.
He wrote practically no poetry worth
publishing until he was past thirty
years Of age. He was thirty-two when
he wrote ''The Psalm Of Life," which
first brought him fame. He finished
"Evangeline" at forty, that being his
first extended essay into poetic narra-
tive. Most of his ambitious work was
done after he passed the fortieth me-
ridian. Nearly all his verse was the
product Of his mature life.
Until far into middle life the poet
was 'Professor" Longfellow. For near
~ twenty years he occupied the chair
Of modern languages at Harvard, and
for several years in his earlier man
hood he had held similar chair at
BoWdotn, where in his nineteenth year
he was graduated. During his profess
orship days he made two trips to Eu-
rope for the study Of modern Ian
guages. Later he made two more trips
for the study Of modern conditions and
just to see the world and broaden his
experiences. .s-
Professor Longfellow was not mere
~ respected by the young collegians
whom he instructed in literature and
languages. They loved him. Thomas
wentworth Higginson, one Of those
fortunate boys, tells in a current mag
aZ1ne article how John Revere, grand
son Of the Paul Revere whose ride the
poet made forever famous by his STIR
ring ballad, was once the leader Of a
student revolt at Harvard. Several of
the professors visited the rioters on
the campus and sought to interfere.
"Go home and 60 to bed, old Dozy
Prosy," was the greeting which one
solemn professor received in addition
to being grabbed by Revere and others
and forcibly faced around toward his
home. Another professor had to run
the gantlet. Then Revere suddenly
exclaimed:
"Boys, here's Professor Longfellow.
Well hear him. He always treats us
like gentlemen"
The rebellion ended then and there.
Colonel Higginson says that Longfel.
low was the first Of the Harvard pro.
fessors to address the students with
the title mr." He treated them as if
they belonged to his own circle Of pol
| ished gentlemen, and the boys honored
him accordingly. Professor Longfel-
low was perhaps the most travelled and
cultured member Of the Harvard fac
ulty at the time. His culture was uni.
versal, not merely American.
A World Poet.
Even for that quality some Of his
critics are wont to berate him. They
aver that he drew his inspiration from
Europe. Yet we have "Evangeline," a
story altogether American; we have
'sHiawatha'a and 'The Courtship . of
Miles Standish,'' of which the same
may be said; we have numberless ex.
amples Of lyric and dramatic or mar.
rative verse inspired purely by Amer.
lean incidents or institutions. Supple.
mentary to these we haYe many beau
tiful pieces suggested by the poets
travels abroad and by his browsings in
foreign literatures and histories Thus
Longfellow really made himself what
ne aspired to be-a world. poet That
he was world poet and not merely
"America's poet" as Queen Victoria
called him, needs no further proof than
the hundred or more translations.
And as for originality, Shakespeare
borrowed practically all his plots.
Shakespeare put originality into his
method of expression. Longfellow did
likewise. The student Of literature is
able to Identify a passage of blank
verse as Shakespeare's, even though he
may not have read it previously. Like
wise the student Of literature can iden-
t1fy a Longfellow poem. There is some
thing in the manner of saying the
thing which reveals the author. James
Russell Lowell, who lived very close
to Longfellow in Cambridge, wrote a
couplet which should put the quietus
upon critics who assume that nothing
Is original unless the idea is new. Said
Lowell: ..-
Though old the thought and oft ex-
pressed
IT'S his at last who says it best.
Appealed to the Heart.
Longfellow said many things better
than anybody else said them. He NAV
not have spoken to the highly intel
lectual message Of prophecy or in
depreciation such as was spoken by
Walt Whitman or by Emerson. These
men aDDealed to tho sor1 ond To,rfo1