Revisiting Longfellow with a Memory from Zimbabwe

I employed the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) as a kind of refrain in my novel Brookhaven. A main character is well known in his family for his lifelong love of Longfellow’s poetry and his ability to recite it from memory.  

What I didn’t realize or remember was just how long I’d been reading Longfellow’s poetry myself. That is, until a recent comment on a post at Tweetspeak Poetry popped up.

 

The comment first arrived as an email. It’s a standard notification that Tweetspeak writers get when someone comments on a post they’ve written. I read it and looked at the date of the post – Oct. 3, 2017, almost nine years ago. Had I actually resumed reading Longfellow that long ago?

To continue reading, please see my post today at Dancing Priest.

Some Wednesday Readings

 

The Neglected Genius of Hilaire Belloc – Joseph Pearce at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

Tools of the Trade – Kelly Belmonte on writing.

 

What-ifs and he Price of Beauty – Elliott Drago at Front Porch Republic.

 

Writer Reads: Jan Carson’s Few and Far Between – Andrew Roycroft at New Grub Street.

 

Why you must know your book’s genre – Nathan Bransford.

 

The Beautiful Ordinary – Kelly Keller at Story Warren on Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry.

Happy Thanksgiving, from Tweetspeak Poetry (and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

I went looking for a Thanksgiving Day poem, specifically one by Henry Wadswoth Longfellow (1807-1882). As much as I’ve read Longfellow over the past five years, I thought I remembered one. I found one that wasn’t about the day but about giving thanks in general.  And I found one about the harvest, which we’ve featured here at Tweetspeak Poetrybefore for Thanksgiving Day. 

As it turns out, Longfellow never wrote a poem for the day. He was alive at the time President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to be a National Day of Observance in October of 1863, after the strategic Union victories in the Civil Wat at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Like so much else that happened during the Civil War, the holiday was federalized. Previously, it had been left largely to the individual states.

 

But if there was a poet widely loved during that period and much of the 19^th century, it was Longfellow. He helped create national myths like Paul Revere’s ride and the story of Miles Standish; he introduced America to the story of the expulsion of the Acadians from Canada; and he depicted a native American as something other than a “noble savage.” He was America’s poet, and that was the reason I wrote his poetry into my historical novel Brookhaven.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Photograph: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Some Thursday Readings

 

Gratitude Is Not Just One Day – Terry Whalin at The Writing Life.

 

2025: Ten Reasons I’m Thankful This Thanksgiving – Brian Miller at Notes from an East Tennessee Farmer.

 

What to be thankful for – Bill Grandi at Living in the Shadow.

 

America’s First Thanksgiving Almost Didn’t Happen – Doug Spurling at Spurling Silver.

 

A President’s Thanksgiving Call to Grace and Gratitude – The Coolidge Review.

 

Why Did FDR Change the Date of Thanksgiving? – Tim Ott at History.

 

Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving – Dancing Priest (first posted in 2022).

What Happened to the Fireside Poets?

When I first envisioned my novel Brookhaven, I focused on a family story passed down through generations, which turned out to be a legend, as in, almost entirely untrue. But two things shifted my focus. 

First, in 2022, I had the old family Bible conserved. It had seen better days; my father gave it to me wrapped in grocery store bag paper and tied with strong. My contribution had been to remove the paper and string, wrap it in acid-free paper, and store in an acid-free box. It sat on a closet shelf for years, until I brought it to a book conservator in St. Louis. He discovered something tucked in the Book of Isaiah that both my father and I had missed – a yellowed envelope containing a lock of auburn hair.

 

For various reasons, I believe the hair belonged to my great-grandmother Octavia. She died in 1888 at age 44. Unusual for the time, my great-grandfather Samuel never remarried. He died in 1920. And I thought to myself, “There’s a love story here.”

 

Second, also in 2022, we saw a movie entitled “I Heard the Bells.” It’s a snapshot of the life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) during the Civil War, including both the tragic death of his beloved wife and the near death from a war wound of his oldest son Charles. Both events contributed to Longfellow’s writing the poem that became a Christmas hymn, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” 

To continue reading, please see me post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Illustration: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Some Tuesday Readings

 

Trembling Aspen – poem by Jerry Barrett at Gerald the Writer.

 

“Archaic Torso of Apollo” by Rilke and “Reconciliations” by Goethe – poems translated by Josh Olson at Society of Classical Poets.

 

“Pied Beauty,” poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Mystic Affection – poem by Sharon Powlus Wheeler at Every Day Poems.

 

Sonnet 60 by William Shakespeare – Rabbit Room Poetry.

Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride”: Creaing a National Legend

It’s a tossup as to whether the most famous or best-known poem in America is Clement Moore”s “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (aka “Twas the Night Before Christmas”), first published in 1823, or Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride,” (1860). My money is on “Paul Revere’s Ride.” Whole generations of schoolchildren, myself included, grew up reciting the lines that begin “Listen my children, and you shall hear…” 

Both poems are no longer taught in most of America’s public schools, but I know from my grandsons’ experience that they are taught (with great gusto) in many private schools, especially those offering a classical education. “Paul Revere’s Ride” commemorates one of the significant of the beginning of the American Revolution, a horseback ride at night to warn the cities of Lexington and Concord that British troops were coming.

 

That ride occurred 250 years ago tomorrow.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Artwork: the illustration accompanying the poem in the January 1861 edition of The Atlantic Magazine.

Some Thursday Readings

 

“If You Had Been Here,” a poem for Holy Week – Story Warren.

 

On publishing Charlotte Bronte’s miniature book of poems for the first time – R.B. Russell at Literary Hub.

 

The Classical Girl’s Top 10 Holy Works for Holy Week – Terez Rose at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

Sweet Tea and Sacraments: Flannery O’Connor, the American South, and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition – Raleigh Adams at Front Porch Republic.

 

“Sing a Song of Sixpence,” poem by Mother Goose – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

Some Thursday Readings

One of the main characters of my new novel Brookhaven has been a major admirer of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow since he was a child. It’s unusual, because the character is born and raised in Mississippi, and abolitionist Mr. Longfellow was not a popular poet. And Longfellow’s poems, in fact, play a not insignificant role throughout the entire book. 

We recently rewatched the Angel Films movie “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” which tells the story of Longfellow and his family during the Civil War, and how he came to write the poem that became the Christmas carol. The movie takes only minor liberties with the real story. Some years back, Meg Groeling at Emerging Civil War told that story, and it’s every bit as fascinating as the movie.

 

The Other Christmas Truce – Joanna Guldin at Military.com.

 

The Cross and the Machine – Paul Kingsnorth at The Free Press.

 

York Buildings Stairs and the Watergate – A London Inheritance.

 

The Bard at Christmas – Jaspreet Singh Boparai at The Critic Magazine.

 

Boat Prayer – Karla Van Vliet at Every Day Poems.

 

“In the Bleak Midwinter,” poem by Christina Rossetti – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

The First Noel – poem by Seth Lewis. 

 

Hell by the Acre: A Narrative History of the Stones River Campaign, November 1862-January1863 by Daniel Masters – review at Civil War Books and Authors.

 

Photograph: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about 1860.

Holiday Gifts for the Poet in Your Life (or the Poet in You)

I’m usually reluctant to buy books as gifts for friends and family members. I’ve always thought of books as something personal, chosen after deep consideration at the bookstore or spontaneously when I see something on Amazon. (It also works the other way – spontaneously at the bookstore or after deep consideration at Amazon.) Exceptions exist: our oldest son loves reading Calvin & Hobbes collections; as a child, he saw the cartoon strip as a how-to manual. And a grandson did specifically ask his parents for some Harry Potter books. I’m always ready to indulge a request for books in this age of screens. 

If you have a poet in your life, or if you have a poet in your own heart, I have a few suggestions for holiday gifts. My perspective is personal – I would be thrilled to have received any of these as a gift. I’ll be writing about some of them here early next year. 

 

My suggestions also reflect my Anglophilia. 

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Some Tuesday Readings

 

Letters from Father Christmas: A Review for the Advent Season – Sarah Dixon Young at Story Warren. 

 

Rembrandt in Vienna: Notes on the Exhibition – Rod Dreher at Rod Dreher’s Diary.

 

To See It – poem by Laura Foley at Every Day Poems. 

 

50 States of Generosity: Idaho – Sandra Heska King at Tweetspeak Poetry.

 

It's Take Your Poet to Work Day

Today is Take Your Poet to Work Day at Tweetspeak Poetry, and the site has a raft of resources to help you do that. The celebration of poetry and work has been going strong, and I’ve been an enthusiastic participant from the get-go. I even wrote a small book, Poetry at Work, on finding poetry in all aspects of work. 

When I still had an office (or a cubicle), I’d pick a poet and bring him or her to work on the designated day in July. Typically, I’d bring my longstanding favorite poet, T.S. Eliot.

 

Ten years ago, I was preparing to give notice of my intended retirement from work, which I did in September of 2014. I officially retired in May of 2015. It was early, but it was time. Enough said.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Dancing Priest.

Photograph: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in old age.

Some Wednesday Readings

 

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton – reviewed at Redeemed Reader.

 

The Endless Possibility of Renewal – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review on Willa Cather’s My Antonia. 

 

Why so few men take up the pen – Paul Burke at The Critic Magazine.

 

Merrie England: Hillaire Belloc in the South Country – Joseph Pearce at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

“Ask Me No More Where Jove Bestows,” poem by Thomas Carew – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

Longfellow, Whitman, Wheatley: Whatever Happened to Patriotic Poems?

In a collection of stories, letters, poems, and speeches, I happened across “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It immediately brought a smile, evoking a memory of class memorization from elementary school, which occurred longer ago than I care to think. I can hear myself and my fellow fifth graders reciting in unison, some of us (overachiever Mary Ellen comes to mind) reciting louder to show mastery of the poem, while a few others mumbled to disguise what they hadn’t learned. I was somewhere in the middle but leaning in the direction of Mary Ellen’s loudness. 

After I reread the poem, remembering some of the stanzas, I checked back with a Tweetspeak Poetry post from last year, which took a look at “America’s most patriotic poem.” The Atlanticpublished Longfellow’s poem in January 1861, long after Revere’s famous ride (although much about that ride remains in historical dispute today). And then I went looking for what was happening when Longfellow wrote and published that poem.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Photograph: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1860, about the time he wrote “Paul Revere’s Ride.”

The Mythic and Heroic: "The Song of Hiawatha" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I’ve been reading the epic poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poems I read as a child and in junior high and high school English classes. These are poems like Evangeline, The Courtship of Miles Standish, and Tales of the Wayside Inn, which includes what is still one of the best-known poems in America, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.

Longfellow in 1855

The epic Longfellow poem I hadn’t read was The Song of Hiawatha. And I was drawn to it not because I hadn’t read it, but because of an insulting comment aimed in its and Longfellow’s direction. I read an interview with two poets who have both written non-fiction works about the value of poetry. One of them mentioned The Song of Hiawatha as having something that appealed to her, even though it was “to say the least, racially insensitive.”

My first reaction was a question. Why do we feel compelled to politicize everything? My second reaction was to seek out the poem and read it for myself. Having already read three of Longfellow’s epic poems, and discovering that in one of them – Evangeline – he had done something no one in America had previously done – find the heroic in Catholics – and knowing that the poet had also written poems against slavery which cost him sales of his books in the South, I wondered if the poem was as “racially insensitive” as the writer seemed to think.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Painting: Hiawatha, oil on canvas by Thomas Eakin (1874); Hirschhorn Museum.

The Poetry of the Visiting Card: Miss Jennie Todt Meets Catherina Gerhard

In writing about the poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – Paul Revere’s Ride, Evangeline, and The Courtship of Miles Standish – I’ve been using an edition of his poetry published in 1898 by Houghton Mifflin. It’s the illustrated “household edition” of his complete poems and, according to the price sheet at the front of the volume, it would have cost $1.50 when it was published. (I have the non-gilt edition; the gilt-edged edition would have been $2.00.) That translates to about $42.00 today, and about $56.00 for the gilt edition.

The first owner of the book inscribed her name and the date on an inside cover page: Catherina Gerhard, Christmas 1899. The inscription suggests it was a Christmas present, and that Catherina was pleased enough with the gift to write her name inside.

Something I never noticed before, likely because the book opened to the page with the name and date, was that the page before it was slightly stuck to the front cover. I carefully pried it apart, and discovered no additional writing or inscription, but a visiting card, simply printed with the name “Miss Jenny Todt.”

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Top photograph: The visiting card of Miss Jennie Todt found inside Longfellow's Complete Poems.