s and papers, a few poems written
in his college days, and some translations from the French, German, and
Spanish poets. In this volume occurs some of Longfellow's choicest work,
the gem of the book being the celebrated "Psalm of Life."

[Illustration: LONGFELLOW'S HOME AT CAMBRIDGE.]

It is from this point that Longfellow goes onward, always as the
favorite poet of the American people. The "Psalm of Life" had been
published previously in a magazine without the author's name, and it had
no sooner been read than it seemed to find its way into every heart.
Ministers read it to their congregations all over the country, and it
was sung as a hymn in many churches. It was copied in almost every
newspaper in the United states, it was recited by every school-child,
and years afterwards one of America's greatest men said that in one of
the darkest hours of his life he had been cheered and uplifted by its
noble spirit. To young and old alike it brought its message, and its
voice was recognized as that of a true leader. The author of _Outre Mer_
and _Hyperion_ had well touched hands with millions of his brothers and
sisters, and the clasp was never unloosed while he lived.

In the same collection occurs "The Footsteps of Angels," another
well-beloved poem, and one in which the spirit of home life is made the
inspiration.

Longfellow's poems now followed one another in rapid succession,
appearing generally at first in some magazine, and afterward in book
form in various collections under different titles.

His greatest contributions to American literature are his "Evangeline"
and "Hiawatha," and a score of shorter poems, which in themselves would
give the author a high place in any literature.

In "Evangeline" Longfellow took for his theme the story of the
destruction of the Acadian villages in Nova Scotia by the English during
the French and Indian war. Longfellow has made of this sad story a
wondrously beautiful tale that reads like an old legend of Grecian
Arcadia.

The description of the great primeval forests stretching down to the
sea; of the villages and farms scattered over the land as unprotected as
the nests of the meadow-lark; of the sowing and harvesting of the
peasant folks, with their fetes and church-going, their weddings and
festivals; and the pathetic search of Evangeline for her lost lover
Gabriel among the plains of Louisiana--all show Longfellow in his finest
mood as a poet whom the sorrows of mankind to