"The literature of a people should be the record of its joys and sorrows, its inspirations and its shortcomings, its wisdom and its folly, the confidant of its soul. We cannot say that our own as yet suffices us, but I believe that he who stands, a hundred years hence, where I am standing now, conscious that he speaks to the most powerful and prosperous community ever devised or developed by man, will speak of our literature with the assurance of one who beholds what we hope for and aspire after, become a reality and a possession forever."-James Russell Lowell, Washington Inauguration Anniversary Address, “Our Literature."

GENERAL REFERENCES.

W. C. Bronson, A Short History of American Literature (Heath & Co., 1900). A. G. Newcomer, American Literature (Scott, Foresman & Co., 1901). Barrett Wendell, A Literary History of America (Scribner's, 1900). C. F. Richardson, American Literature (Putnam's, 1887). Higginson and Boynton, History of American Literature (H. M. & Co., 1903). John Nichol, American Literature (Edinb., 1882). K. L. Bates, American Literature (Macmillan & Co., 1898). Lorenzo Sears, American Literature in the Colonial and National Periods (Little, Brown & Co., 1902). Brander Matthews, An Introduction to the Study of American Literature (Am. Bk. Co., 1896). E. C. Stedman, Poets of America (H. M. & Co., 1885). E. P. Whipple, American Literature (Ticknor & Co., 1887). R. W. Griswold, The Poets and Poetry of America (Phila., 1860). D. G. Mitchell, American Lands and Letters (Scrib., 1899). Edwin Bacon, Literary Pilgrimages in New England (Silver, Burdett & Co., 1902). W. C. Lawton, The New England Poets (Macm., 1898). M. A. DeW. Howe, American Bookmen (Dodd, Mead & Co., 1898). Cyclopædia of American Literature, compiled by E. A. and G. L. Duyckinck. Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography. O. F. Adams, Dictionary of American Authors. The National Cyclopædia of American Biography. Barrett Wendell, Stelligeri (New York, 1893). P. K. Foley, American Authors, 1795-1895 (Boston, 1897).

LECTURE I.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882).

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

In

He

His early educa

1821 he entered Among his class

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine. On his maternal side he traced his ancestry back to the Mayflower. was a studious boy, correct and amiable in conduct. tion was obtained at the Portland Academy. Bowdoin College, from which he graduated in 1825. mates were J. S. C. Abbott and Nathaniel Hawthorne. At the request of his Alma Mater, Longfellow fitted himself abroad for the chair of modern languages at Bowdoin. Three years were spent in study and travel in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. In 1829 he entered upon his professorial duties. In 1831 Longfellow married. After a second residence in Europe, during which time his wife died, he returned to America to become, in 1836, professor of Romance Languages at Harvard. The following year he took up his abode in the Craigie House, Cambridge, the seat of Washington's headquarters during the siege of Boston. This house was presented to Longfellow in 1843, by Mr. Nathan Appleton, of Boston, whose daughter the poet married the same year. Longfellow resigned his professorship at Harvard in 1854; only once during his service of nearly twenty years did he take a vacation of considerable length, when he made a visit to the Rhine. In 1861 he lost his second wife, who was fatally burned. Longfellow thereafter led a more secluded life. In May, 1868, he made a fourth trip to Europe, returning in September, 1869. He was greatly honored, both at home and abroad. Bowdoin conferred upon him the degree of LL. D., and likewise did Harvard, and Cambridge (England). Oxford conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Civil Law. Something of the popularity of Longfellow's poems abroad may be gleaned from the fact that portions of his works were translated into seventeen foreign tongues. Longfellow was one of the original contributors to the Atlantic Monthly. He died at the age of seventy-five. In 1884 a bust of him was placed in Westminster Abbey near Chaucer's tomb.

BIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES.

Samuel Longfellow, Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, with Extracts from his Journals and Correspondence, 2 vols. (Ticknor & Co., 1886). Eric S. Robertson, Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (London, 1887). F. H. Underwood, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a Biographical Sketch (Osgood & Co., 1882). G. L. Austin, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, His Life, His Works, His Friendships (Lee & Shepard, 1888). G. R. Carpenter, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Small, Maynard & Co., 1901). Final Memorials of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, edited by Samuel Longfellow (Ticknor & Co., 1887). Mrs. J. T. Fields, Authors and Friends (H. M. & Co.). T. W. Higginson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Am. Men of Let.).

CRITICAL REFERENCES.

H. E. Scudder, The Art of Longfellow (H. & M., 1887). E. C. Stedman, Poets of America (H. & M., 1885). Andrew Lang, Letters on Literature (Longmans, 1889). G. W. Curtis, Literary and Social Essays (Harper, 1895). George McCrie, The Religion of Our Literature (London, 1875). E. A. Poe, Longfellow and Other Plagiarists. H. T. Griswold, Home Life of Great Authors. E. P. Whipple, Essays and Reviews. For list of magazine article and reviews of Longfellow's works, see Eric S. Robertson, Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Alfred H. Welsh, English Masterpiece Course. See also chapters on Longfellow in "General References" above.

AUTHOR'S WORKS.

Outre-Mer, 1833, 1834. Hyperion, 1839. Voices of the Night, 1839. Ballads, and Other Poems, 1841. Poems on Slavery, 1842. Spanish Student, 1843. The Belfry of Bruges, and Other Poems, 1845. Evangeline, 1847. Kavanagh, 1849. The Seaside and the Fireside, 1850. The Golden Legend, 1851. Hiawatha, 1855. The Courtship of Miles Standish, 1858. Tales of a Wayside Inn, 1863, 1872, 1873. Flowerde-Luce, 1867. Translation of Dante's Divina Commedia, 1867-1870. The New England Tragedies, 1868. The Divine Tragedy, 1871. Christus, 1872. Three Books of Song, 1872. Aftermath, &c., 1873. The Masque of Pandora, and Other Poems, 1875. Keramos, and Other Poems, 1878. Ultima Thule, 1880. In the Harbor, 1882. Michael Angelo, 1883.

Longfellow's Works are published complete in the Standard Library Edition, in 14 vols. (H. M. & Co.). The most convenient one-volume edition of the poems is the Cambridge Edition (H. M. & Co.).

REQUIRED READING.

For those intending to take the University Extension examination, the following works of Longfellow will be required: Voices of the Night, The Skeleton in Armour, The Wreck of the Hesperus, Excelsior, The Belfry of Bruges, The Bridge, The Songs and Sonnets, Evangeline, Hiawatha, The Hanging of the Crane, Tales of a Wayside Inn, Part I.

LECTURE OUTLINE.

I. A Survey of American Poetry During the First Quarter of the 19th Century.-Paucity of poetry in 18th and early 19th centuries. Causes producing this low tide in literature.The dawn of poetic genius in America-Freneau, Payne, Woodworth, Drake, Halleck, and others of temporary fame. -WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT (1794-1878), America's first genuine poet. Thanatopsis, and its significance in our literature. The standard of Bryant's early productions maintained throughout his work. Bryant a nature poet (cf. Wordsworth), thoughtful, sustained, serene, sincere. A master of blank-verse. Approached greatness, though within narrow limits.

II. A Study of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.-America finds here her best representative of the poetic art. Other interests and literary attempts than that of poetry,-romances -essays-translations. Causes tending to establish Longfellow as "the nation's poet":

a. Versatility in handling the various kinds of poetry,— lyric, ballad, sonnet, drama, epic,—and verse forms.

b. Wide range of subject matter,-mediæval, modern; domestic, foreign, international; legendary, historical; love, adventure, patriotism, slavery.

c. Elements of universal interest,-human sympathy and sentiment, appealing to all classes and to all persons, old and young; i. e. to the common heart. A poet of the beautiful. Clarity and simplicity.

d. Well-balanced in combining thought, feeling, and art. e. The poems of Longfellow almost universally bear the stamp of culture,-a refined mind, study, delicacy, finish.

III. Some Adverse Criticisms of Longfellow's Poetry.Didacticisms in the early poems. Parallelisms. The charge of plagiarism. Lack of depth and imaginative insight. Artificiality.

IV. An Examen of Longfellow's Most Famous Poems in View of the above Analysis.-The lyrics and sonnets, Evangeline, Hiawatha, Tales of a Wayside Inn, &c.

V. Summary of Longfellow as a Poet and Man of Letters.— The first to interest Americans in the study of Anglo-Saxon. The first to import the materials and culture of mediæval romance, and mould them into an artistic form. His historical significance in American poetry can hardly be over-estimated. The attraction of his stories and legendary lore, and the wonderful amenity of his language are the underlying causes of his popularity; while grace and simple melody, sincerity and genuine human sympathy, secure for Longfellow a safe place in American literature.

CRITICAL APPRECIATIONS.

"It is an obvious truth in regard to the literary works of Longfellow, that while they would have been of value at any time and place, their worth to a new and unformed literature was priceless

"Longfellow rendered a service only secondary, in enriching and refining it and giving it a cosmopolitan culture, and an unquestioned standing in the literary courts of the civilized world. ."-T. W. Higginson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Am. Men of Letters), 261, 262. "He who has written verses that are committed to heart by millions for the gladdening of their lives, must have written much that is true poetry; -Eric S. Robertson, Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, p. 177.

"All his art, all his learning, all his melody, cannot account for his extraordinary popularity, not only among his own countrymen and those who in other lands speak the language in which he wrote, but in foreign realms, where he could only be read through the ground glass of a translation. It was in his choice of subjects that one source of the public favor with which his writings, more especially his poems, were received, obviously lay."-O. W. Holmes, Address before the Mass. Hist. Society, in Final Memorials, p. 361.

"His poetry is good rather than great."-J. N. McIlwraith, A Book about Longfellow, p. 164.

"Upon the basis of universal suffrage Longfellow would doubtless be the most popular poet of our time, and perhaps of any time; for it is