1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, in 1807, and died in Cambridge, Mass., in 1882, in the old historic mansion which was Washington's headquarters during the siege of Boston. He was Professor of Modern Languages and Literature in Bowdoin College, and, in 1835, became Professor of Modern Languages and Belles Lettres in Harvard University, which position he held for fourteen years.

2. He had a pure, noble, and serene nature, and a warm and tender heart. He was an accomplished scholar. intimately acquainted with the languages and literatures of continental Europe. He was exquisitely sensitive to the beautiful; he looked at every aspect of nature with

a painter's eye, and may be said to have used colors with his pen. He wrote in many different meters, and was a master of melodious versification.

3. Some of his poems prove that he was by no means wanting in strength and fire, but the tender, soothing, elevating character of his poetry generally, entitles him to be called the poet of the affections. He has breathed consolation into many afflicted hearts, and has not only charmed the ear, but has touched the heart of the world. No poet in the English language has been more popular and beloved than Longfellow.

4. In England, it has been decided, as a fitting tribute to "a graceful and tender poet," to place his bust in the Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey. Among his minor poems are: "Children," "The Children's Hour," "Maidenhood," "Resignation," "The Flowers," "Paul Revere's Ride," "The Arsenal at Springfield," and "The Building of the Ship."

5. Among other poems that are attractive to young people are the following: "Evangeline," a story of the cruel expulsion by the English of the Acadians, from their home in Nova Scotia; "The Courtship of Miles Standish," a charming picture of Pilgrim times in Plymouth; "Tales of a Wayside Inn," and "The Hanging of the Crane."

6. Of Longfellow's style, George William Curtis says: "While the magnetism of Longfellow's touch lies in the broad humanity of his sympathy, which leads him neither to mysticism nor cynicism, and which commends his poetry to the universal heart, his artistic sense is so exquisite that each of his poems is a valuable literary study. In these, he reached a perfection quite unrivaled among living poets, except, sometimes, by Tennyson. His literary scholarship, also his delightful familiarity with the pure literature of all languages and times, must rank Longfellow among the learned poets."

2. THE DEATH OF LONGFELLOW.

1. With a glory of winter sunshine Over his locks of gray,

In the old historic mansion,

He sat on his last birthday;

2. With his books and his pleasant pictures,
And his household and his kin,
While a sound as of myriads singing,
From far and near stole in.

3. It came from his own fair city,

From the prairie's boundless plain,
From the Golden Gate of sunset,

And the cedar woods of Maine.

4. And his heart grew warm within him, And his moistening eyes grew dim. For he knew that his country's children Were singing songs of him.

5. The lays of his life's glad morning,
The psalms of his evening time,
Whose echoes shall float forever
On the winds of every clime—

6. All their beautiful consolations,
Sent forth like birds of cheer,
Came flocking back to his windows,
And sang in the poet's ear.

7. Grateful, but solemn and tender, The music rose and fell,

With a joy akin to sadness,

And a greeting like a farewell.

8. With a sense of awe, he listened
To the voices, sweet and young;

The last of earth and the first of heaven,
Seemed in the songs they sung.

9. And waiting a little longer

For the wonderful change to come,
He heard the summoning angel
Who calls God's children home.

10. And to him, in a holier welcome,
Was the mystical meaning given
Of the words of the blessed Master:
"Of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

JOHN G. WHITTIER.

3. THE LIGHT OF STARS.

1. The night is come, but not too soon; And sinking silently,

All silently, the little moon.

Drops down behind the sky.

2. There is no light in earth or heaven
But the cold light of stars;

And the first watch of night is given
To the red planet Mars.

3. Is it the tender star of love?

The star of love and dreams?
O no! from that blue tent above,
A hero's armor gleams.

4. And earnest thoughts within me rise, When I behold afar,

Suspended in the evening skies,
The shield of that red star.

5. O star of strength! I see thee stand
And smile upon my pain;

Thou beckonest with thy mailéd hand,
And I am strong again.

6. Within my breast there is no light
But the cold light of stars;

I give the first watch of the night
To the red planet Mars.

7. The star of the unconquered will,
He rises in my breast,
Serene, and resolute, and still,
And calm, and self-possessed.

8. And thou, too, whosoe'r thou art,
That readest this brief psalm,
As one by one thy hopes depart,
Be resolute and calm.

9. O fear not in a world like this,
And thou shalt know erelong,
Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong.

1

LONGFELLOW.

WRITTEN SPELLING.-WORDS OFTEN MISSPELLED.

Study this lesson by writing it on slates. Divide into syllables, mark the accented syllable, and use diacritical marks. If necessary,

refer to the dictionary.