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Article HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
humanity , no one has more truly essayed to lift us up from the grovelling cares and debasing tendencies of an abject materialism . His song is a sweet , pure song from first to last , falling in genail cadence or solemn strophes on the gratified ears of us all , often despondent mortals here , and lighting up the sterner trials and moods
of each returning day ; ennobling the very heartaches and crosses of sublunary life with unfading hopes , golden dreams , and gloAving anticipations , which shall yet be realized , the poet bids us fondly believe in those glad hours for which Time is but the portal , to which the grave is but the entrance , in the perfected serenity , and being * , and
happiness , and illumination of the true in heart . For how many of us all , since first we heard them , have Longfellow ' s tender lines become Avay faring and inseparable companions ? What writer is , as Ave said before , more frequently quoted ? Whose words have greater effect in them , to offer " incitements to virtue , and stability to truth ? " Do we
ask the reason ? Let us take up LongfelloAv ' s Avorks , and Ave shall find from first to last that that striking happiness of rythm , that extraordinary appositeness of imagery , that swiftness of thought and simplicity of utterance which characterize his lighter as well as his graver efforts , and leave a deep and enduring spell on serious minds .
Longfellow is preserved from the mere common place from the cadences alone which characterizes some lines , from the mellow jingles which dominate others , by his intense appreciation of the good , the beautiful , and the true , as expanded by genial philosophy , as developed by refining a ? stheticism . There is nothing petty , incongruous , out of
feature , out of taste , unworthy , unfitting in his graceful lines , but all is smooth yet stately , serene , and yet elevating . There is an unconscious sublimity in much Avhich Longfellow has written , AA hich , though it is conveyed in simplest Avords and slightest measures , deeply affects alike the present impulses , the tender memories , the longing
aspirations of the gratified and grateful reader . Many of his verses are like echoes of music , which come to us amid the cares and vulgarity , the solemnity , the stillness of life , to nerve , to Avarn , to restrain , to cheer , to soften and to subdue . How many happy creations of the poet's art might be quoted here , if need be , to
prove the truth of these remarks , to illustrate the inadequacy even of such faint praise . But for fear of treading over old trod ground , for fear of seeming to be trite and commonplace , and merely repetitive , for fear of Avearying our kind readers with verses Avhich they know and cherish , as we do ourselves , Ave will simply reaffirm our propositions , and leave them to the tolerant and critical judgment of others . But yet many passages Avill recur to us all which will serve clearl y to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
humanity , no one has more truly essayed to lift us up from the grovelling cares and debasing tendencies of an abject materialism . His song is a sweet , pure song from first to last , falling in genail cadence or solemn strophes on the gratified ears of us all , often despondent mortals here , and lighting up the sterner trials and moods
of each returning day ; ennobling the very heartaches and crosses of sublunary life with unfading hopes , golden dreams , and gloAving anticipations , which shall yet be realized , the poet bids us fondly believe in those glad hours for which Time is but the portal , to which the grave is but the entrance , in the perfected serenity , and being * , and
happiness , and illumination of the true in heart . For how many of us all , since first we heard them , have Longfellow ' s tender lines become Avay faring and inseparable companions ? What writer is , as Ave said before , more frequently quoted ? Whose words have greater effect in them , to offer " incitements to virtue , and stability to truth ? " Do we
ask the reason ? Let us take up LongfelloAv ' s Avorks , and Ave shall find from first to last that that striking happiness of rythm , that extraordinary appositeness of imagery , that swiftness of thought and simplicity of utterance which characterize his lighter as well as his graver efforts , and leave a deep and enduring spell on serious minds .
Longfellow is preserved from the mere common place from the cadences alone which characterizes some lines , from the mellow jingles which dominate others , by his intense appreciation of the good , the beautiful , and the true , as expanded by genial philosophy , as developed by refining a ? stheticism . There is nothing petty , incongruous , out of
feature , out of taste , unworthy , unfitting in his graceful lines , but all is smooth yet stately , serene , and yet elevating . There is an unconscious sublimity in much Avhich Longfellow has written , AA hich , though it is conveyed in simplest Avords and slightest measures , deeply affects alike the present impulses , the tender memories , the longing
aspirations of the gratified and grateful reader . Many of his verses are like echoes of music , which come to us amid the cares and vulgarity , the solemnity , the stillness of life , to nerve , to Avarn , to restrain , to cheer , to soften and to subdue . How many happy creations of the poet's art might be quoted here , if need be , to
prove the truth of these remarks , to illustrate the inadequacy even of such faint praise . But for fear of treading over old trod ground , for fear of seeming to be trite and commonplace , and merely repetitive , for fear of Avearying our kind readers with verses Avhich they know and cherish , as we do ourselves , Ave will simply reaffirm our propositions , and leave them to the tolerant and critical judgment of others . But yet many passages Avill recur to us all which will serve clearl y to