The poet's life was singularly beautiful and his character of great charm. Born in Portland, Maine, he was graduated from Bowdoin College, where he was later a professor. Afterward he removed to Cambridge and became a professor in Harvard. Here he spent the greater part of his life in association with Lowell, Emerson, Whittier, and Holmes, and others of this great group of American literary lights. He wrote some prose, but chiefly poetry. His longer poems, Hiawatha, Evangeline, and Miles Standish, are standards, read by all school children, and deservedly. Many of his shorter poems have really more of charm than these longer ones. Longfellow was especially the friend of children, as is shown by his poems. One of the most touching proofs of his popularity was the movement by Cambridge people to preserve for him his favorite view of the Charles River, which was in danger of being obscured by buildings. His friends bought the lands and made a public park of it so that the poet might still look out upon his loved Charles. EXCELSIOR Excelsior was first published in 1841. It was written on the back of a note from Charles Sumner, and is dated at the close: "September 28, 1841. Half past 3 o'clock, morning. Now to bed." The suggestion for the poem 5 came from seeing a part of the heading of one of the New The shades of night were falling fast, His brow was sad; his eye beneath The soul 1 Excelsior, higher. This stands for no definite goal. strives continually to advance. It has no fixed point to attain; it must always be moving upward. The possibilities are infinite, hence the limitless desire. 10 15 And like a silver clarion rung The accents of that unknown tongue, In happy homes he saw the light1 Of household fires gleam warm and bright; Excelsior! "Try not the Pass!" the old man said; "O stay," the maiden said, "and rest "Beware the pine tree's withered branch! This was the peasant's last Good night, Excelsior! 1 The first temptation is to quiet, unambitious domestic life. For the others refer to the questions at the end. 45 335 At break of day, as heavenward A voice cried through the startled air, A traveler, by the faithful hound, There in the twilight cold and gray, 40 Excelsior! H. W. LONGFELLOW. QUESTIONS FOR STUDY Name the various temptations described in the different stanzas, telling what is meant by each picture. Which was the strongest? What enabled the youth to resist them? Was it worth while? 1 St. Bernard, a monastery high up in the Alps, whose monks watched for snowbound travelers, and kept the famous St. Bernard dogs to hunt for them and save them. Did he attain his end? Why? Was it possible of attainment? If it had been possible of attainment, would it have been as well worth the effort? THE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH It was the season, when through all the land Those lovely lyrics, written by His hand, Whom Saxon Cadmon1 calls the Blithe-heart King; When on the boughs the purple buds expand, The banners of the vanguard of the spring, And rivulets, rejoicing, rush and leap, And wave their fluttering signals from the steep. The robin and the bluebird, piping loud, Filled all the blossoming orchards with their glee; 10 The sparrows chirped as if they still were proud Their race in Holy Writ should mentioned be; And hungry crows, assembled in a crowd, Clamored their piteous prayer incessantly, Knowing who hears the ravens cry, and said: "Give us, O Lord, this day, our daily bread!" Across the Sound the birds of passage sailed, Speaking some unknown language strange and sweet 1 Cædmon (Cadmon), a famous poet of the early Saxons. 15 |