92 LOUIS AGASSIZ 



elated by the general reader. The men- 

 tions of Agassiz in verse and the poems 

 directly addressed to him or to his 

 memory are enough to give him a place 

 in literature a feature in a scientific 

 biography for which we can think of 

 no parallel. Darwin's work is far more 

 familiar to the outside world, and the 

 ideas for which Darwin stands sponsor 

 are running amuck through poetry and 

 prose ; but where are the personal trib- 

 utes to him which can be called enduring 

 literature ? 



We do not mean by this to imply that 

 the verses written to Agassiz are in any 

 case great poems ; but they are certainly 

 on that level where the world keeps 

 them for their own sake/ not merely of 

 the kind that pupils and kindred shall 

 not willingly let die. Any one who 

 does not know Lowell's long ode to 

 Agassiz should read it forthwith for the 

 sake of the character-painting. Longfel- 

 low's u Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz" 



