478 



LONGFELLOW, HENRY W. 



its laws and regulations, and the like, have ap- 

 peared. 



SWEDEN. In general development and prog- 

 ress Sweden holds her own in 1882. The 

 past year has been unusually active in produc- 

 tion of historical and descriptive works of 

 merit; as, "Voyage of the Vega," published 

 simultaneously in eleven languages ; " Illustrat- 

 ed History of Sweden," in six volumes (each by 

 a separate author) ; two volumes describing the 

 Swedish people in their home-life, their cul- 

 ture and customs ; a National Cyclopedia, in 

 six volumes; a work on Swedish medals and 

 statuettes ; the third volume of the " Collection 

 of Swedish Laws," etc. The Finnish poet and 

 novelist, Topelius, continues to be as popular 

 as ever. His well-known " Surgeon's Stories " 

 are in course of publication in a new edition, 

 six volumes, and in several languages. 



LONGFELLOW, HENEY WADSWOETH, was 

 born in Portland, Me., February 27, 1807. His 

 father, the Hon. Stephen Longfellow, was a 

 distinguished member of the Maine bar, and 

 also a member of Congress. On his mother's 

 side he was descended from John Alden, one 

 of the Mayflower Puritans, and one whom he 

 has so pleasantly embalmed in his poem, "Miles 

 Standish's Courtship." Of his early years there 

 is only scant record, hardly more than that he 

 was a quiet, gentle boy, who went to school 

 with other boys at the Portland Academy, 

 where Mr. Cushman was head-master. Here 

 he made rapid progress, and, in 1821 (being 

 only fourteen years old), he entered Bowdoin 

 College. In his class were several youths who 

 became afterward well known to the public, 

 such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, G. B. Cheever, 

 J. S. C. Abbott, J. W. Bradley, etc. Longfel- 

 low was graduated in 1825, second in his class, 

 and so highly were his talents and acquire- 

 ments valued and esteemed that, six months 

 after his graduation, when only nineteen, he 

 was appointed Professor of Modern Languages 

 and Literature in his Alma Mater, a chair of 

 which he was the first occupant. With rare 

 good sense, while accepting the appointment, 

 he felt it necessary to fit himself more exactly 

 and fully for his post by travel and study 

 abroad. Accordingly, he spent three and a 

 half years in Europe, in studying French, Ger- 

 man, and Italian; and the college wisely waited 

 for his return. 



Mr. Longfellow entered upon his duties at 

 Bowdoin College in 1829, and became a very 

 popular professor, noted for his genial, kindly 

 spirit, and for the life and animation he in- 

 fused into his department. He engaged to 

 some extent in literary pursuits, in prose as 

 well as poetry, and thenceforward devoted him- 

 self largely to that noble ancl honorable career 

 of authorship which ended only with his life. 



In 1835 Professor Longfellow was invited 

 to fill the chair of Modern Languages and Liter- 

 ature in Harvard College, from which the emi- 

 nent historian and scholar, George Ticknor, 

 had just retired. Previously to entering upon 



its duties, he resolved to spend another year in 

 Europe in further study and research. While 

 in Rotterdam he met with his first great trouble 

 in life, viz., the death of his wife, to whom he 

 had pledged his faith and love in 1831. Al- 

 though Longfellow married again, in 1843, this 

 severe domestic affliction probably had its effect 

 in deepening the religious cast of his thoughts, 

 and leading him to brood over topics which 

 later formed the staple of his most touching 

 and enduring verses. On his return home he 

 gave to the public " Outre-Mer," and, two years 

 afterward, "Hyperion," both of them of the 

 nature of prose-poems, and much prized for 

 their simple beauty of style and purity of sen- 

 timent. 



It was with true poetic instinct that Long- 

 fellow, on coming to Harvard to reside, in 

 1836, secured for his future home that old- 

 fashioned square house, with a broad piazza 

 looking out upon its garden, and its front win- 

 dows commanding a view of the quiet Charles 

 River, situated a little back from the elm- 

 shaded avenue which leads to Mount Auburn. 

 This was the " Craigie Mansion," occupied at 

 the time by a widow lady of the name of 

 Craigie, who admitted the youthful professor 

 within her walls. On her death, some seven 

 years later, the poet purchased the property, 

 and continued to reside there with his family 

 until his own summons came to leave this 

 world, and pass away to his final account. The 

 house was already famous as being Washing- 

 ton's headquarters after the battle of Bunker 

 Hill. It has, ever since Longfellow's occu- 

 pancy, been famous in a different sense, as a 

 place of pilgrimage for devout admirers of the 

 genial, much-loved poet. 



From this date (1836) onward, for nearly 

 twenty years, Longfellow not only gave care- 

 ful attention to the duties of his professorship, 

 but also engaged in writing for reviews and 

 magazines, as well as composing and publish- 

 ing several of his best-known poems, as " Voices 

 of the Night," "Ballads," "The Spanish Stu- 

 dent," "The Belfry of Bruges," "Evangeline," 

 "The Golden Legend." He also published 

 " Kavanagh," a New England tale, and edited 

 " The Poets and Poetry of Europe," with bio- 

 graphical notes and translations. The remaining 

 incidents of the poet's life and career are few 

 and easily stated. He resigned his chair in 

 Harvard in 1854, and, in the retirement of his 

 charming home, prepared his later poems and 

 contributions to American literature. He made 

 a third visit to Europe in 1842, and a last visit 

 in 1869, when the university honored itself by 

 conferring upon him the degree of D. C. L. 

 His wife met with a tragic end in 1861. She 

 was sealing a letter in her own room, when 

 her light summer dress caught fire from the 

 lighted taper, and she was burned so severely 

 that she died soon after in great agony. Two 

 sons and two daughters (unmarried) were the 

 inmates of the poet's residence, ancl survive 

 their honored father. 



