Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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American Men of Letters

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

BY THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON

BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY The Riverside Press, Cambridge 1902

COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Published October, 1902

Of this edition Three Hundred Copies have been printed and bound entirely uncut with paper label

PREFACE

A life of Longfellow has been from the beginning included in the plan of the "American Men of Letters" series, but it has been delayed through a variety of causes. Like all memoirs of this poet, it must rest partly on the material amply furnished by the "Life" so admirably prepared by his brother sixteen years ago, yet it may be well to explain that the present volume will be found marked by three especial characteristics of its own. First, much additional material is here drawn from the manuscript correspondence of the first Mrs. Longfellow, received from her family and bearing upon the poet's early married years and first visit to Europe, during what was undoubtedly the formative period of his life. Secondly, there is a good deal of material obtained from the manuscript volumes known as the "Harvard College Papers" and preserved at the University Library, elucidating the academical side of Longfellow's life. Thirdly, there is a series of extracts from his earlier writings, dating from college days and not hitherto brought together, but showing the origin and growth of his lifelong desire to employ American material and to help the creation of a native literature; the desire which had its final fulfilment in "Evangeline" and "Hiawatha." These three sources will be found, if the author is not mistaken, to have afforded distinct contributions to our previous knowledge as to Longfellow's character and work.

T. W. H.

CONTENTS

Chap. Page

I. Longfellow as a Classic 1 II. Birth, Childhood, and Youth 11 III. First Flights in Authorship 21 IV. Literature as a Pursuit 37 V. First Visit to Europe 45 VI. Marriage and Life at Brunswick 59 VII. The Corner Stone laid 67 VIII. Appointment at Harvard and Second Visit to Europe 81 IX. Illness and Death of Mrs. Longfellow 107 X. Craigie House 116 XI. Hyperion and the Reaction from It 124 XII. Voices of the Night 137 XIII. Third Visit to Europe 149 XIV. Anti-Slavery Poems and Second Marriage 163 XV. Academic Life in Cambridge 176 XVI. Literary Life in Cambridge 188 XVII. Resignation of Professorship-- to Death of Mrs. Longfellow 202 XVIII. Birds of Passage 213 XIX. Last Trip to Europe 219 XX. Dante 225 XXI. The Loftier Strain: Christus 236 XXII. Westminster Abbey 248 XXIII. Longfellow as a Poet 258 XXIV. Longfellow as a Man 278 Appendix 297

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

CHAPTER I

LONGFELLOW AS A CLASSIC