ast time I had the pleasure
of seeing you; viz. that they would permit me to take from the
College grounds 3 elm trees to be placed in front of the Craigie
House.

I am endeavoring to replace, as well as possible, the old elms, and
find it difficult to obtain many of the size I desire. Some parts of
the College ground are so thickly planted that a tree may be
removed, here & there, without at all impairing the beauty of the
grounds. I therefore request permission to remove any 3 trees that
the College Steward shall say may be taken without detriment to the
College property.

Yrs very truly,

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.

CAMBRIDGE, Dec. 29 [1843].{39}

{37 Miss Alice M. Longfellow in _The Cambridge Tribune_, April 21, 1900,
page 4.}

{38 A history of this house from original documents was prepared by
Samuel S. Green, of Worcester, and was read by him before the American
Antiquarian Society, April 25, 1900, and published in their documents.}

{39 _Harvard College Papers_ [MS.], 2d ser. xii. 26.}

CHAPTER XI

HYPERION AND THE REACTION FROM IT

"Outre-Mer" had been published some time before, with moderate success,
but "Hyperion" was destined to attract far more attention. It is first
mentioned in his journal on September 13, 1838, though in a way which
shows that it had been for some time in preparation, and its gradual
development is traceable through the same channel. One entire book, for
instance, was written and suppressed, namely, "St. Clair's Day Book,"
the hero having first been christened Hyperion, then St. Clair, and then
Paul Flemming. Its author wrote of it, "I called it 'Hyperion,' because
it moves on high among clouds and stars, and expresses the various
aspirations of the soul of man. It is all modelled on this idea, style
and all. It contains my cherished thoughts for three years."{40}

The cordiality with which "Hyperion" was received was due partly to the
love story supposed to be implied in it, and largely to the new
atmosphere of German life and literature which it opened to Americans.
It must always be remembered that the kingdom in which Germany then
ruled was not then, as now, a kingdom of material force and business
enterprise, but as Germans themselves claimed, a kingdom of the air; and
into that realm Hyperion gave to Americans the first glimpse. The faults