Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Poems and Other Writings (Library of America) [Hardcover]

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Author), J. D. McClatchy (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"By the shore of Gitchee Gumee,/ By the shining Big-Sea-Water..." Between the Civil War and the Great Depression, Longfellow (1807-1882) was America's best-loved poet. An audience so broad it's now hard to imagine enjoyed his well-told, metrically innovative narrative poems, like The Song of Hiawatha; schoolchildren memorized, and adults enjoyed, his accessible, often sententious lyric verse. Longfellow's vast and various output also included many translations of Dante and other European poets, verse-drama and a collection of shorter narratives, Tales of a Wayside Inn. (In his day job at Harvard, he helped invent the study of comparative literature.) In search of a new audience for Longfellow, editor McClatchy, a poet and critic himself (Ten Commandments; Twenty Questions), has rightly assembled a very generous selection, including all Longfellow's most famous poems, and all his best (they're not the same). Here are Hiawatha, Evangeline, The Courtship of Miles Standish and "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." Here, too, are some surprisingly powerful lyric and meditative poemsAwell made, deeply felt, and not much like the schoolhouse favorites. Among them are the ambitious, fast-moving "K?ramos," which follows a potter's wheel around the world; metrical complexities like "The Rope-Walk" and "Snow-Flakes"; and the grief-charged sonnet "The Cross of Snow," about his long-dead wife. Longfellow's longtime residence in New England gave him a special gift for nautical themesAhis poems about ships, sailing and the sea range from quick mood pieces to political allegories. TranslationsAan important part of his workAare also well represented. And historically minded readers will seek out his antislavery poems and his later verse on the Civil War. Near the end of the volume comes his nearly plotlessAbut thoroughly charmingAMaine novella, Kavanagh. Though he may never regain his onetime prestige, Longfellow at his best was more fun, smarter, deeper, and a better craftsman than readers nowadays imagine; this hefty volume may finally let them know.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Divina Commedia: Purgatorio. Beatrice
Divina Commedia: Purgatorio. The Celestial Pilot
Divina Commedia: Purgatorio. The Terrestial Paradise
Rondel
The Sea Hath Its Pearls
Retribution
Aftermath
Afternoon In February
The Arrow And The Song
The Arsenal At Springfield
Autumn Within
The Belfry Of Bruges
The Bells Of San Blas
Birds Of Passage
The Bridge
The Broken Oar; Sonnet
The Builders
The Building Of The Ship
The Challenge
Changed
Chaucer; Sonnet
Children
The Children's Hour
Christmas Bells
Christus; A Mystery: 3. The New England Tagedies: Saint John
Christus; A Mystery: 3. The New England Tragedies: Giles Corey
Christus; A Mystery: 3. The New England Tragedies: John Endicott
Consolation
The Courtship Of Miles Standish (complete)
A Covered Bridge At Lucerne
The Cross Of Snow
The Cumberland
Curfew
The Day Is Done
A Day Of Sunshine
Daybreak
Daylight And Moonlight
The Devil's Bridge
Divina Commedia (introductory Poems): 1
Divina Commedia (introductory Poems): 2
Divina Commedia (introductory Poems): 3
Divina Commedia (introductory Poems): 4
Divina Commedia (introductory Poems): 5
Divina Commedia (introductory Poems): 6
Eliot's Oak; Sonnet
The Emperor's Bird's-nest
Enceladus
Evangeline; A Tale Of Acadie
Excelsior
The Fiftieth Birthday Of Agassiz; May 28, 1857
The Fire Of Driftwood; Devereux Farm, Near Marblehead
The First Passover: Mount Quarantania
The First Passover: The Tower Of Magdala
Footsteps Of Angels
The Galaxy; Sonnet
A Gleam Of Sunshine
Glotto's Tower
The Goblet Of Life
God's Acre
Haroun Al Raschid
The Harvest Moon; Sonnet
The Haunted Chamber
Haunted Houses
Hawthorne
Hermes Trismegistus
Hymn To The Night
In The Churchyard At Cambridge
It Is Not Always May
The Jewish Cemetery At Newport
Keats; Sonnet
Keramos
Killed At The Ford
The Ladder Of Saint Augustine
The Light Of Stars
The Meeting
Mezzo Cammin
Michael Angelo: Dedication
Michael Angelo: In The Coliseum
Michael Angelo: Monologue
Michael Angelo: The Dead Christ
Michael Angelo: The Last Judgment
Michael Angelo: The Oaks Of Monte Luca
Michael Angelo: Viterbo
Milton; Sonnet
Moonlight
Morituri Salutamus
My Lost Youth
A Nameless Grave; Sonnet
The Occultation Of Orion
The Old Clock On The Stairs
The Open Window
Palingenesis
The Phantom Ship
The Poet's Calendar: April
The Poet's Calendar: August
The Poet's Calendar: December
The Poet's Calendar: February
The Poet's Calendar: January
The Poet's Calendar: July
The Poet's Calendar: June
The Poet's Calendar: March
The Poet's Calendar: May
The Poet's Calendar: November
The Poet's Calendar: October
The Poet's Calendar: September
The Poets; Sonnet
A Psalm Of Life
Rain In Summer
The Rainy Day
Resignation
Returns To Work
The Revenge Of Rain-in-the-face
The Ropewalk
Sandalphon
Seaweed
The Second Passover: Simon Magnis And Helen Of Tyre
Shakespeare; Sonnet
Sir Humphrey Gilbert
The Skeleton In Armor
The Slave Singing At Midnight
The Slave's Dream
Snowflakes
Something Left Undone
The Song Of Hiawatha
Sonnet: Autumn
Sonnet: Dante (2)
Sonnet: The Evening Star
The Sound Of The Sea; Sonnet
The Spirit Of Poetry
The St. Gothard Pass
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: Finale
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: Interlude (1)
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: Interlude (2)
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: Interlude (3)
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: Interlude (4)
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: Interlude (5)
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: Interlude (6)
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: Paul Revere's Ride
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: Prelude. The Wayside Inn
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: Robert Of Sicily
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: The Birds Of Killingworth
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: The Falcon Of Ser Federigo
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: The Legend Of Rabbi Ben Levy
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: The Saga Of King Olaf
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The First Day: Toquemada
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The Second Day: Kambalu
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The Second Day: The Cobbler Of Hagenau
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The Second Day: The Legend Beautiful
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The Third Day: Azrael
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The Third Day: Finale
Tales Of A Wayside Inn: The Third Day: The Monk Of Casal-maggiore
The Third Passover: Aceldama
The Third Passover: Pontius Pilate
Three Friends Of Mine: 1; Sonnet
Three Friends Of Mine: 2; Sonnet
Three Friends Of Mine: 3; Sonnet
Three Friends Of Mine: 4; Sonnet
Three Friends Of Mine: 5; Sonnet
The Three Silences Of Molinos; To John Greenleaf Whittier
To A Child
To The Driving Cloud
To The River Charles
Twilight
The Two Angels
Ultima Thule: Elegiac
Ultima Thule: Helen Of Tyre
Ultima Thule: Jugurtha
Ultima Thule: L'envoi. The Poet And His Songs
Ultima Thule: My Cathedral
Ultima Thule: Night
Ultima Thule: The Burial Of The Poet; Richard Henry Dana
Ultima Thule: The Chamber Over The Gate
Ultima Thule: The Tide Rises
Venice; Sonnet
Victor And Vanquished
The Village Blacksmith
Vittoria Colonna
Vox Populi
The Warden Of The Cinque Ports (the Duke Of Wellington)
The Warning
Weariness
The Wind Over The Chimney
The Witnesses
The Wreck Of The Hesperus
The Good Shepherd
Tomorrow
Sonnet: Dante (1)
Sonnet: The Artist
Sonnet: To Vittoria Colonna
Saint Teresa's Book-mark
The Grave
A Neapolitan Canzonet
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 825 pages
• Publisher: Library of America; First Edition edition (August 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188301185X
• ISBN-13: 978-1883011857
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #408,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Just Gitchee Gumee, October 12, 2000

By 

Wuddus (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Poems and Other Writings (Library of America) (Hardcover)

J.D. McClatchy here presents a thoughtful selection of Longfellow's verse. Although ignored by contemporary readers and dismissed by the academy, Longfellow is a wrtier who, though never profound, is sincere, engaging, accessible, and humble--qualities rarely associated with modern poetry. It is difficult to read such saccarhine classics as "The Children's Hour" and "A Psalm of Life" without either shrivelling from the sweetness or retreating into a shallow camp perspective, but for the reader willing to make the effort, Longfellow offers the deep rewards of meter, rhyme, and narrative--and the rare pleasure of lines that do not dazzle or daunt by ambiguity. As the poet writes, "Such songs have power to quiet / The restless pulse of care, / And come like the benediction / That follows after prayer."

One's only regret with this volume (a criticism one might make, I suppose, of any selection) is that McClatchy did not include more--specifically, the complete "Tales of a Wayside Inn," which, though represented rather amply, surely should have been included in its entirety as the happiest vehicle for Longfellow's story-based strengths. "The Bell of Atri," one of the most charming of the tales, should certainly be here. Then, too, the editor seems rather determined in his selection to present a more somber presentation of the poet than is warrented by his full corpus. (Perhaps he aims to make Longfellow more attractive to an audience accustomed to the confessional and the dour.) Oh, well. In compensation we do get useful notes, an excellent chronology, and the delightful novella "Kavanagh"--all of which make this surely the most pleasant poetry revival of the past several years.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great American poets, July 5, 2004

By 

John P. (Kennett Square, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Poems and Other Writings (Library of America) (Hardcover)

Longfellow's conventional morality and straightforward manner of expression have long caused his work to be unfairly ignored by serious readers. But those who are willing to give him a try will be rewarded by masterful storytelling, resourceful treatment of American themes, a truly sympathetic imagination, and (perhaps most importantly for poetry lovers) constant metrical experimentation. Unlike, say, Tennyson, who arguably had a better ear, Longfellow was never really satisfied with blank verse and instead played with unusual (for the time) metrical forms. Many people today forget that Longfellow was a highly educated man -- a professor of comparative literature at Harvard and a speaker of numerous languages -- whose broad reading led him to unusual forms and themes.

For those who think of Longfellow as just a schlockmeister, I recommend starting with "The Cross of Snow" (his very private meditation on his second wife's violent death) and "The Slave's Dream." For those interested in great stories in verse, try the selections here from "Tales of a Wayside Inn" (yes, it's a darn shame that more was not included) and "Evangeline." For those interested in Americana, try "The Building of the Ship" and "The New England Tragedies" (the latter being verse dramas on religious persecution and the witchcraft hysteria in Massachusetts). And for those interested in formal experimentation, try "My Lost Youth" and "The Saga of King Olaf."

Like all Library of America editions, this is a beautifully printed book, with helpful notes and a chronology of the author's life. I just wish they had included more!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too short., July 14, 2007

By 

the truth is out there - See all my reviews

This review is from: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Poems and Other Writings (Library of America) (Hardcover)

The poetry and novella here are very enjoyable to read. It is smooth, well-written, melodious poetry, and one realizes why Longfellow was so loved in his own day. Longfellow, with others, such as Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, is one of the great American poets. Unfortunately, Library of America chose to only publish a selection of his work. As before noted by another reviewer, "Tales of a Wayside Inn" is only partial, though the "Song of Hiawatha" is here complete (thankfully). This seems inexcusable, since Library of America found time and space for all of Poe, Whitman, Frost, and Stevens, not to mention minor poets like Emerson and Thoreau. Longfellow, as one of the major American poets, deserves better. So 5 stars for his poetry, but 3 stars for this edition of LoA.