LONGFELLOW 



3494 



LONGFELLOW 



ONGFELLOW, HENRY 



WADSWORTH (1807-1882), an Ameri- 

 can poet whose verse is read and 

 loved in countless homes and schools. Be- 

 cause of his appreciation of the trials, the 

 hopes and the ideals that are common to all 

 humanity, because of his love for all that is 

 true and beautiful, and because of his gift for 

 simple yet musical expression, Longfellow has 

 won an enduring place in the affections 'of 

 numberless readers in his own and in foreign 

 lands. James Whitcomb Riley, who is as 

 dearly loved by the children as is Longfellow, 

 has written of the older poet: 



His verse blooms like a flower, night and day ; 

 Bees cluster round his rhymes ; and twitterings 

 Of lark and swallow, in an endless May, 

 Are mingling with the tender songs he sings. 

 Nor shall he cease to sing in every lay 

 Of Nature's voice he sings and will alway. 



Longfellow was born at Portland, Me., on 

 February 27, 1807. His father, Stephen Long- 

 fellow, was a Harvard graduate, a prosper- 

 ous lawyer and at one time a member of 

 Congress a kindly and lovable man; his 

 mother, Zilpah Wadsworth, was a lover of 

 nature, music and poetry a fine and cultured 

 woman, descended from General Wadsworth 

 of Revolutionary fame, and from the John 

 Alden and Priscilla whom Longfellow after- 

 wards celebrated. The home life in the old 

 Portland house was well-nigh ideal, and the 

 poet carried with him all his life the influence 

 of these early happy years. While fond of 

 walking and of various out-of-door sports, he 

 found his chief delight in music and in read- 

 ing; and in his father's library he studied 

 the choicest pages of English literature. The 

 effects of this reading on his ambition became 

 evident when there appeared, in 1820, in the 

 Portland Gazette, a poem signed "Henry." 

 While better than most boys of thirteen could 

 have written, this poem had no real merit; 

 it did not, as did some of Bryant's youthful 

 productions, hold out promise of future genius. 



His Early Life. At fifteen he en- 

 tered Bowdoin College at Bruns- 

 wick, Me., and there his geniality 

 and uniform courtesy made him a general 

 favorite. He was graduated in 1825, in the 

 class with Hawthorne and Franklin Pierce, 

 leaving behind him an enviable record for 

 regularity and brilliancy. So good, in fact, 

 was the impression made by him that very 

 shortly after his graduation he was offered the 

 professorship of modern languages at Bowdoin. 

 He had pondered much over what profession 

 he should adopt, and had finally decided to 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 



study law in his father's office, but his enth 

 asm and talent for literature caused him 

 accept the offer gladly. After some mon 

 of rest at home, he sailed for Europe, as 

 college authorities had suggested, to pre; 

 himself for his new duties. He had a remark- 

 able gift for learning and remembering la: 

 guages, and between 1826 and 1829 traveled i 

 France, Spain and Italy, reading and spea 



