M lldfef^rfbim^fel far M% ^AmM ®M Jlm®^ Class F tv Book rP3G( o liut the poet's memory here Of the landscape makes a part : Like the river, swift and clear, Flows his song through many a heart." ANNE LONGFELLOW PIERCE, 1810-1901. THE DONOR OF THE HOUSE. THE WADSWORTH - LONGFELLOW HOUSE Longfellow's Old Home PORTLAND, MAINE ITS HISTORY AND ITS OCCUPANTS BY NATHAN GOOLD PUBLISHED BY THE MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1905 L-iBRARYof OOWaKtsS Two Copies rttx;uivt>u AUG 16 1305 ^ Couyngiu tnifi / /9 sT^ COPV B. Copyrighted 1905, Bv Xathax Goold. Sold (inly at tlie Wadsuortli-Loiis^lellow House. Printed at Tlie Lakeside Press. l^S^m-^rS^^W^E^^T^. ^^^^^1 ....v.^,.;-.-* -f/- « Photo by C. H. Brown. The Old Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Its Occupants. '. WV ,«av buiia more splendid habitations, ill „„r n.„n,s with paintinss a"d with sculptures,^^ >'..-veca„,,o.b..'.i...."'a.'»_old^ss.c,at,on.^^^ ,,„ u .„swout,.-LoNtu.-EL,.ow IlofSf. «>... into the ,„.„...-io„ „f the Maine Historical Socety in June, l.ttJ , . donation ffon. Anne Longfellow ^ «-- ^ >;7;;f: ,i,,e>- ot Henry W. Lont^tellotv, whose honte t lad hoe, ..^, n ,no,e thnn^ighty-seven years, I. was the itotne her parents and ,r Iparents d is to ''c incsorve as -^^^^^^ ^ -"^'>- "••"- " 7 ;; ;:i;;i::;r:;i:ti'::h^;on,in;.a„d the U.tver iiont rooms sh 1 M^ *- ^ .„ ^„^ ,,,„,, f„, the Soeiety was re.|Uired t,. e.uistitiet ■"<"'> „|,i„l ' ,hall he their home aceotnntodation ot their lihrary and eah.net, wh.di for :it least lialf a conlury. It is now the intention to devote the whole house to the honor of these distinouished families, and for the pleasure and profit of visitors. Anne Longfellow Pierce was born in this house March 3, 1810, married to George W. Pierce here in 1832, and where she died January 24, 1901, at the great age of ninety years, ten months, after a life of simplicity and usefulness, having the spirit which made this memorial a realization. 1807-1882. She had no children. ]Mr. Pierce was the classmate of her older brothers, and studied law in this house with her father. Twenty years after his death the Poet Longfellow wrote of him : "I have never ceased to feel that in his death something was taken from my own life which could never be restored. I have constantly in my memory his beautiful and manly character, frank, genei'ous, impetuous, gentle; by turns joyous and sad, mirthful and GENERAL PELEQ WADSWORTH, 1748-1829. ELIZABETH BARTLETT, HIS WIFE, 1753-1825. serious; elevated by the consciousness of power, depressed by he m .- .ivincs of self-distrust, but always kind, always courteous ; and above a 1 ^oble in thought, word and deed." In the "Footsteps of Angels, he said °^ ^"^ ■"" . ^ He, the young and strong, who cherished ' Noble longings for the strife. By the roadside fell and perished, ^^ Weary with the march of life." He died November 15, 1836, aged nearly thirty years, after a married life of less than three years. The house was built in the years 1785 and 178(), and was at first of Init two stories with a pitched roof. It was two years in building because it was the first attempt in town to build a house whose four walls should be of brick. The bricks came from Philadelphia, and the walls are six- teen inches thick. The first year only enough bricks were l)rought to Imild the^ first story. The third story was added in 1815, after a fire in the roof the year before. General Peleg Wadsworth was the builder. He was the father of the poet's mother, who was born in Dux- bury, Mass., in 1778, and came here to li've when she was about eight hon. Stephen longfellow, ^^ 1776-1849. years of age. He was a native of l)uxl)ury, a graduate of Ilaivard College and had been a major-general in the army of the Revolution, where he rendered distinguished service. He bought the land in 1784 and built a store and barn that year. The house was begun the next year. He served his district in Congress fourteen years and declined a re-election. He removed to Hiram, INIaine, founded that town, became its patriarch, and where he lies buried on his estate. He brought here six children. The first-born, Alexander Scammel, died inside the American lines, at Dor- chester Heights, in 111'). The children who came here were Charles Lee. Copyriglit I'.tOl, by Lamson Studio THE FRONT HALL. Zilpah, Elizabeth, John, Lucia and Henr3\ Those l)orn in this house were George, Alexander Scammel, Samuel Bartlett and Peleg. Elizabeth had obtained a lock of Washington's hair, at the time of his death, through her father, which she bequeathed to the people of Maine, at the time of her death, in 1802, then but twenty-two, which, with the correspondence and her will, is among the i)recious possessions of the Maine Historical Society. Lieutenant Henry Wadsworth was born while the house was being built and from its door went to Tripoli with Commodore Preble, in the old 8 (constitution, where he vohmtarily sacriticed his life in the fireship Intrepid, in 1804, at the early age of nineteen years. In this house Alexander Scamniel Wadsworth was born, in 1790, who was at Tripoli, on the same frigate, and distinguished himself, as a lieutenant, on that his- toric vessel in the retreat of sixty- four hours from Broke's British s(juadron and in the famous battle, in the open sea, with the Gueriere, in 1812, when he was next in com- mand to Cai^tain Hull during nearly the whole engagement. This was the tirst British frigate to strike her flag to an American. He became a com- modore and died in Washington, D.C., in 1851. His uniform, chapeau and sword are on exhilution. General Wadsworth's a})pearance, at the time of the building of this house, was given by his daughter, Zilpah, as follows: — "Imagine to yourself a man of middle age, well proportioned, with a military air, and Avho carried himself so trul}^ that many thought him tall. His dress, a bright scarlet coat, buff small clothes and vest, full rutHed bosom, rutHes over the hands, white stockings, shoes with silver buckles, white cravat bow in front, hair well powdered and tied l)ehind in a clul), so-called." Stephen Longfellow was married, in this house, to Zilpah Wadsworth, January 1, 1804. This had been her home from childhood. Asa young lady, she was fond of dress and society, but in her later life was noted for her piety, patience, cheerfulness and tine manners, and held a high position in the society of the town by her intelligence and worth. On the broad stone stoop of this house, at twenty, she presented a banner, from the young ladies of Portland to the first uniformed militia company in Maine, "The Copyright 1902, by Lamson Studio. THE GARDEN DOOR. SHOWING THE "RAINY DAY VINE. Federal Volunteers," in 171)8. The Poet Longfellow's parents first lived here, but soon commenced housekeeping in the hip-roofed house, now stand- ing, on the corner of Congress and Temple Streets, where their first child, Stephen, was born, in 1805. It was from that house that they removed to the father's sister Abigail's home, at the corner of Hancock and Fore Streets. Capt. Samuel Stephenson, the sister's husband, was obliged to go to the West Indies on business and they were there staying with his wife, durinir his absence, when Henry W. Longfellow was born, Fe])ruary 27, Copyriglit r.»04, ))y Lamson Studio. THE PARLOK. 1807. That never was a Longfellow house and the uncle onl}' occu})icd it about three years. The first record of his birth is on the bill of the family physician. Dr. Shirley Erving, where can be seen this charge : — "1807, Feby., for attendg on Mrs. L., . . . $5.00." Longfellow was named for his mother's brother, Lieut. Henry Wads- worth, and at the age of about eight months his parents came l)ack to the old home, where they ever afterward lived. General Wadsworth's family had removed to Hiram, Maine, late in 180(i, but he owned the house until his death in 1829, at the age of eighty-one, when it was be(iueathed to ]\Irs. 10 Longfellow and her sister, Lucia Wadsvvorth. ]Miss Wadsworth lived here until her death, in 1864, at the age of eighty-one years. She is spoken of as the second mother to the children and was a most estimable woman. In the Wads worth-Longfellow House six of the Lonsfellow children were born and from its door five were buried. Two daughters were married here. Stephen, the first child, was a lawyer and civil engineer, was married and had children, dying in LS50, aged forty-iive years, esteemed by those who knew him. Henry W. was the next child. Eliza- Copyright 190'2, bv Lamson Studio. THE "DEN" OR THE OLD DINING ROOM. "the rainy day desk." beth Wadsworth came next. She was a talented girl, who died in 1829, at twenty. The next was Anne, Mrs. Pierce. Then came Alexander Wadsworth, who married and had live children. He died in Portland, in 1901, at the age of eighty-six years, was a civil engineer and engaged in the United States Coast Survey and was a man who was an honored citizen and an esteemed gentleman. Mary, the sixth child, was born here in 181(5, married, in 1839, James Greenleaf, and she died in Cambridge, Mass., in 1902, aged eighty-six years. She presented over twelve hundred volumes as a foundation of what has since become "The Greenleaf I^w Library," 11 Copyriglit 1002, by Laiuson Studio. BACK OF THE LIVING ROOM. in Portland, after the tire of 18(i(). She was a l)enefactor of several nnder- takino-s and is the largest contrilmtor to the fund for the preservation of her birthplace, to this time. She had no children. Kllen, the next, died in 1834, at sixteen. The youngest was Samuel, horn in 1S19, a graduate of Harvard College, a Unitarian clergyman and the author of many hymns. He was loved and esteemed, never married, and died in Portland, in 1892, aged seventy-three years. A Longfellow family ditty was : — "Stephen and Henry EIiz"beth and Anne Ale.x. and Mary Ellen and Sam." AVilliam Willis, the historian, said of Hon. Stephen I.ongleUow : — "No man more surely gained the contidence of all who apjMoaehed him or held it firmer: and those who knew him best loved him most." Mr. Longfellow was the son of ,Judge Stei)hen Longfellow, of Gorham, Maine, the grandson of Stephen Longfellow, the first schoolmaster of Port- land, who was also the son of Stephen. The poet's father, graduated at 12 Copyriglit r.W2, by Lamson Studio FRONT OF THE LIVING ROOM. ,H.)\VING THE PUKT'S FAVOKITK CHAIR AND H.uv.nl CUese in 1798, was a Select.uan, Judge ,.£ .h« C,n,r of Conn m pi ripresentative t„ the Gene... Court, State ««-^t;- »"' ^^'^t tive to Const-ess i,t 1823-5. He died in this house ,n 1849, aged se^entJ thvee yeat-si-andhis wife in 18.51, at ^^^^'^^^ ._,.,„ „, „,„„,,, The noet wrote in his journal, Maicli iz, looi. .hot-e I 1 took leave of he' lay tny tnothef, to welco.ne and taUe leave o ■» T s.it -ill th-it nio-ht alone with hei-,- without ten-or, almost r^arrow! r fil ^ .>een l.,. death. A sense of pea. can. over n,e as if there had been no shock or ,ar ,n nature, hut ,. h.un,on„u,._ ''""'X:^!nt front roont over the parlor atrd the father and Mrs. Piere- in the front room over the living or sitting room. H myW. Lon.fellow lived here during his childhood, ''"vhood -d vounl marhood, and here he ean.e, to his old hontc, to t e end o ,s e HeTe''were the scenes of his bringing up and here he prohted by the e.^a>n- ple a d prtils of his honored parents. Here he wrote his tirst poem «,d ;:.: gether with portions of his prose works. It was real y h,s until the IHtrchase of the "Craigie House," at Catnhrnlge, .n 184.., a pe.tod 13 of thirty-live years. The home remained with the old furnishings undis- turl)ed until the death of Mrs. Pierce. Longfellow's last visit here was in July, 1881, when he wrote to a friend in Rhode Island : — "Portland has lost none of its charms. The weather is superb and the air equal to that of Newport or East Greenwich or any other Rhode Island seashore. I shall remain here a week or two longer, and think of running up to North Conway and to Sebago, to see the winding Songo once more. It is very pleasant sitting here and dictating letters. It is like thinking what one will say without taking the troul)le of writing it. I have discov- ered a new pleasure." The poems now known to have been written in this house are : — The Battle of Lovell's Pond, 1820. Musings, 1825. The Spirit of Poetry, 1825. Burial of Minnisink, 1825. Song : When from the eye of day, 1820. Song of the Birds, 182(5.' The Lighthouse. The Rainy Day, 1841. Changed, 1858. And probably others. A portion of Hyperion was written here and, no doubt, nuich was outlined in this house while staying here. In 1-17. ]My recollec- tions of those interviews in that time-honored mansion and the excellent man whose reception of me was ever cordial and whose conversation was to me so ao-reeable and so instructive have never ceased to be a pleasure." liev. Elijah Kellogg wrote of the boy: "He was a very handsome boy. Retirinu- without being reserved, there Avas a frankness about him that won vou at once. He looked you square in the face. His eyes were full of expression and it seemed as though you could look down into them as in a clear spring. He had no relish for rude sports ; but loved to bathe in a little creek on the bor- der of Deering's Oaks ; and would tramp through the woods at times with a gun, but this was through the influence of others ; he loved much bc^lter to lie under a tree and read."" His brother Sanuiel described him as a " lively boy with brown or chestnut hair, blue eyes, a delicate com})lexi()n and rosy cheeks ; sensi- tive, impressionable; active, eager, impetuous, often imi)atient ; quick- tempered, but as quickly appeased , kind-hearted and affectionate — the sunlight of the house. He had great neatness and love of order. He was always extremely conscientious, 'remarkably solicitous always to do right,' his mother wrote; 'True, high- minded and no])le — never a mean thought or act,' said a sister ; 'injustice in any slia})e he could not brook.' He was industrious, ])rompt and l)ersevcring ; full of ardor, he went into everything he undertook with great zest." The ))()et"s early holidays were often spent at his grandfather's at Gorham, Maine, his father's birthplace, where he had the companionship of his cousin. Sometimes in vacations he visited his (xrandfather Wadsworth, at Hiram, where he heard the stories of the Revolution and of the events in the foundinu- of that town. Here he learned of the battle of Lovell's Pond Coi)yriglit 1902, by Lamson Studio. THE KITCHEN DRESSER. in Fryclmi'ir, a neiohborinii' town, and it was the sul)jcct of liis lir.st i)ul)- lished poem, in 1820, then Imt thirteen. Henry \V. Lonofellow, with his brother Stephen, entered Bowdoin CoUeo-e in 1821 and was then in his tifteenth year. The stndies of the first year were jnirsued at home. Their three years' term and l)oard l)ills have been preserved and are on exhibition in the house. Their ehiss is said to have l)een the most famous of any that has ever gnuUuited from any eollege in America. It Avas the celebrated class of 182.1. In 1824, while the poet was in college, his father wrote him in one of his letters : ''My ambition has never l)een to accumulate wealth for my children, but to cultivate their minds in the best possil)le manner and to imbue them with correct moral, political and religious principles, believing that a person thus educated will, with proper diligence, be certain of attain- ing all the wealth which is necessary to happiness." The Poet Longfellow remained here with his parents during the fall and winter after his graduation from Bowdoin C'ollege, studying law in his father's office, which was then in this house. In May, 182G, he started on his first voyage to Europe in a sailing vessel, the passage occupying thirty days. He remained abroad over three years. In one of his letters he said : "Traveling has its joys for him whose heart can whirl away in the sweep of life and the eddies of the world, like a bul)I)le catching a thousand different hues from the sun : but happier is he whose heart rides quietly at anchor ni the peaceful haven of home." On his return, in 1829, Longfellow was elected the Professor of ]^Iodern Lanouaoes and the Librarian ot Bowdoin College. He was then twenty-two. He then took up his work at Brunswick for which he had been fitting himself. It was in 18;U that he married Mary Storer Potter, a daughter of Jud^e Barrett Potter, of Portland, wdio resided in the house now standing, No. 74'Frce Street, where they were married. She was " The being beauteous, Who unto my youth was gi\en, More than all things else to love me." They resided in Brunswick until his resignation of his position in the Col- leire, in the spring of 18;3'5, wdien they both went abroad, he for further stmly. She died in Rotterdam the next November, at the age of twenty- three years. In December, 183(), he returned to America and became the Professor of Modern Languages at Harvard College, for which he had been preparing himself. His second mairiage was to Frances Elizabeth Apple- ton, of Boston, in bS4;'., when the "(^raigie House"' became their home. They had six children. She was burned to death in 18(U, at the age of 17 Copyriglit 1902, bj- Laiiison Mii.ho. THE (tCEST ROO.M. WITH THE FAMH.Y CRADLE. forty-three years. Henry W. Longfellow died iit liis home at Cainbi'idge, ]\I:ireh 24, IHS'2, aged seventy-tive years, mourned by the world. The AVadsworth-Longfellow House, hallowed by its associations, no doubt contains the best collection of the belongings of an author's families on exhibition in the world. On the walls of the old dinino; room bans: the original manuscripts of the addresses of General Lafayette and Hon. Stephen Longfellow delivered in Portland in 1S2"). There are many posses- sions of the AVadsworth family which are of much interest ; besides manu- scripts and household utensils, here are shown the cocked hat and canteen worn by General AVadsworth during the Revolutionary AVar, also the orig- inal deed of this land. There are too many articles to enumerate. Of the poet's life are shown the ])hysician's bill at his birth, his baby cap and shirt, cradle, schoolbooks, term and board bills at college, his early sleeping room, his trunk of 182() and the original banker's statements of his expenses on his lirsl visit to Europe, 182(5-29, together with many other articles and documents connected with his life. Portraits of the different members of the families are on exhil)ition, several not to be seen elsewhere. The cos- tumes of the mother, her sisters and her dauohters, some a century or more old, are exhil)ited. The extent of the exhibition of the l)eh)ngings of tlie Wadsworth and Longfellow families seems almost incredible. It is a sur- prise that they have been so well preserved. It can be said of these families that at no time since the breaking out of the Revolution to this time, but that some member or members have been conspicuous in their State's history. The old house has sixteen rooms. It was the home of the Wadsworth and Longfellow families for one hundred and tifteen years and is in a good state of preservation. It has no " Weather-stains upon the wall, And stairways worn, and crazy doors, And creaking and uneven floors." It was " Built in the old Colonial day. When men lived in a grander way, With ampler hospitality." It has eight open fireplaces, and in former times, during a year, over thirty cords of wood were Ijurned in them. What a tale of l)ygone days they could tell : " By the fireside there are old men seated. Seeing ruined cities in the ashes. Asking sadly Of the Past what it can ne'er restore them. " By the fireside there are youthful dreamers. Building castles fair, with stately stairways. Asking blindly Of the Future what it cannot give them. " By the fireside tragedies are acted , In whose scenes appear two actors only. Wife and husband, And above them God the sole spectator. " By the fireside there are peace and comfort, Wives and children with fair, thoughtful faces. Waiting, watching For a well-known footstep in the passage. ' ' The spacious hallway, Avith its easy staircase, runs through the house and is a good example of the comfortable architecture of former days. The parlor was the largest in Portland when built and contained the lirst piano in town. The piano now there was the one purchased by Henry W. Longfellow for the "Craigie House" at the time of his marriage in 1848. It was used by his family many years. This room was the scene of the festivities, the weddings and the funerals of these families during the scores of years of their occupancy of the house. The living or sitting room has the same general appearance as when occupied by them. For about ten years it was used by the father for a law 19 Copyright VM-i, by Lamsoii Studio. THE POET'S SLEEPING ROOM office, and the poet, his brother Stephen, (leoroe W. Pierce and others studied hiw here. The vestibule or "Little Room " was added as an addition or entrance to the law office. His brother wrote of Longfellow : "In this room the young graduate scribbled many a sheet." After the removal of the office, al)out 1828, this room was changed into a china closet and the poet wrote his sister Elizabeth, from Gottingen, under date of March 29, 182!» : "My poetic career is finished. Since I left America I have hardly put two lines together; .... and no soft poetic ray has irradiated my heart since the Goths and Vandals crossed the RuI)icon of the front entry and turned the sanctum mnc(ontm of the 'Little Room,' into a china closet." Back of the living room is the kitchen with its broad tireplace, in which is the old iron back, on which is the fish "that forever bakes in efligy." This tire})lace has never been closed, and the utensils and china seen here were used by these families in the poet's time and before. This room, being as of old, is one of the most interesting in the house. It tells its own story. On the opposite side of the front hall is the "Den" or the old dining room, made especially famous l)y the fact that here, between the windows, 20 looking out into the oanleii, on the same desk now standing there, was written "The Rainy Day" in 1841. From these windows the poet saw the tlowering grapevine mentioned in the third line, "The \ine still clings {o the mouldering wall," which is living and is still to be seen th'.-re. The furniture on the tirst floor of the house, on exhibition, was theirs and was used by the family. The second story has four rooms, the "Mother's Room," the "Guest's Room," the "Children's Room" and Mrs. Pierce's old room. They contain a wonderful collection of the families' belongings for the inspection of the visitors interested. The third story, added in IS 15, is reached by a well-worn stairway of especial interest from the fact that over these stairs climbed the Longfellow children to their bedchambers where they were under the immediate charge of their aunt, Lucia \Vadsworth. This floor has seven rooms. The room of rooms is the poet's boyhood one, in which he wrote " Musings " and "The Lighthouse." It is furnished with many of the articles of yore. "The Boys' Room," which, at times, - — ^.. ____^ has been occupied by all the Long- ^ fellow boys, looks out on the garden ^^000^ ^H^Hr f '^'^^^ ^^^^' ^'Gstern sky. It contains the ^^^g^n^*"^ ^^^^^^^^^jjgqpli-^r^'' I I old trundle-bed and the writings of ■j^^^^^^ ' I ^ 11 the children on the casing of the '^^^HH ' window, with many articles of much ' '^'^^fl '^'''^ interest. The remaining rooms on this floor are used for exhibition copjiight 1902, by Lainson studio. purposcs. From the frout wiudows, in those days, could be seen the har- bor, its islands, and Cape Elizabeth ; from those in the rear. Back Cove, the fields and forests, back of which loomed up the White Mountains. It was a magnificent prospect. Long- fellow wrote : — " Happy he whom neither wealth or fashion, Nor the march of the encroaching city, Drives an exile From the hearth of his ancestral homestead." On the window casing in the "Boys' Room" one of the children has inscribed, "How dear is the home of my childhood." The poet expressed his sentiments of the love of the old home in words that will never l)e stricken from our language : — "Truly the love of home is interwoven with all that is pure and deep and lasting in earthly affections. Let us wander where we may, the heart 21 THE BOYS' ROOM. THK OLD TRUXDLK-BED AND SCHOOL DESK. 55? '^^K^ looks back with secret longings to the paternal roof. There the scattered rays of affection concen- trate. Time may enfeel)le them, distance overshadow them and the storms of life obstruct them for a season; but they ^viii at length break through the cloud and storm, and glow and burn and brighten a r o u n d the ]) e a c e f u 1 threshold of home." The family were de- scendants from s e V e n Mayflower Pilgrims, Elder William Brewster and his wife Mary, Love Brew- ster, William Mullins and wife, Priscilla ]Mullins and John Alden, all through the Wadsworths. The Longfellows were Puri- rev. s ami el Longfellow, "the hymx writer " + „,-.^" 1819-1892. tans. The Wadsworth-Longfellow House is the most historic house in ]\Iaine. It has been the home of at least eight persons who would make fame for any house by their meritorious services or public benefactions. It will be a most fitting memorial for those whose home it was, especially America's greatest poet, Henry W. Longfellow. It will be the Mecca of the lovers of his verse and the world will have no better tribute to his memory. The Maine Historical Society has accepted this trust and by the contri- butions of a generous pu])lic will bring it to a completion. This society was incorporated in 1822 and has a most honorable record. The poet's father was one of its presidents and Henry W. Longfellow was a librarian. The preservation of this old home is a worthy undertaking for a worthy society, and let success crown their efforts. Rev. Samuel Longfellow once said to a friend : "I hope they will leave some of the old places, for we need links with the past generations: there are few enouoh in America at l)est." THE FATHER'S OLD HOME. "The Longfellow Farm,'" at Goiham, Maine, was bought by the grcat- grandfather, Stephen Longfellow, "the sehoolmaster," in 1761, 1762 ami 1765, in one hundred acre lots. Here he went in 1775, when the British burned Portland, then Falmouth. The present house was pro])ably built during the Revolutionary War, or soon after, and is prol)ably not the one in which the father was born, in 1776. That was in another location. The grandfather. Judge Stephen Longfellow, came into possession of the farm m 1787, where he lived, and it was where he died in 1824. The grandmothei-. Patience Young, lived here until her death, in 1830. When Capt. Sanmel Stephenson, in" whose house the poet was l)orn, in Portland, in 1807, removed to Gorham, February 22, 1808, he was given a portion of the old farm for a home, because his wife, Al)igail, was a daughter of the Judge. Their house, enlarged in 18;'.0, is still standing. He died there in 1858, aged eighty-two years, and his wife in 186U, at ninety. The "Longfellow Elms,"\vhich formerly extended around the old farm by the roadside, were set out al>out 1785. "The Longfellow Farm" is where the Longfellow children vis^ited their grandparents of their name. Soon after Rev. Samuel Longfellow, the youngest of this distin- guished family, graduated from Harvard, in 1839, he made a visit to the 23 old farm. lie was then twenty and his hist grand) )ai-('nt had died nine years before. It wjis then that he wrote the following poem nnder the title, "The Homestead." It is one that will appeal to those who have similarly visited their grandparents' old home later in their lives. The plaee did not go out of the possession of the family until the latter part of the next year, 1840. The poem is reproduced here for the honor and fame of its esteemed author. THE HOMESTEAD. Home of my fathers ! once again I stand beneath the shade Of those ancestral trees where once A dreamy child I played. Those ancient elms still o'er thy roof Their sheltering branches spread ; Bnt they who loved their pleasant shade In heavenly places tread. That little bridge, the vine-clad elms That guarded either end, — Oh, with that spot how many dreams. How many memories blend ! When summer suns at morning kissed The dew from grass and flower, I've wandered there ; and lingered long At evening's holv hour. No longer at the window now Their friendly glance I catch, No longer hear, as I approach. The sound of lifted latch ; The ready hand which once threw wide The hospitable door, — I know its warm and hearty grasp Still answers mine no more. .Still, as each spring returns, those trees Put on their garments green ; And still in summer hues arrayed Those blooming flowers are seen ; And when the autumn winds come down To wrestle with the wood, The gold and crimson leaves are shed To float along the flood. The red rose by the winilow still Blooms brightly as of old ; The woodbines still around the door Their shining leaves unfold. The pale syringa scents the air Through the long summer hours ; But ah ! the old beloved hands No kjnger pluck their flowers. Thus seasons jiass, and year on year Follows with ceaseless pace ; Though all things human change or die, Unchanged is Nature's face. Yet, when these well-remembered scenes Before my \ision glide, I feel that they who made them fair No more are bv niv sitie. I wander vvlu-ri' tiie little l)n)ok .Still keeps its trancjuil How, Where blooms the crimson cardinal. And golden lilies glow , Or, crossing o'er the wooden bridge, I loiter on my way. To watch where, in the sunny depths. The darting minnows play. Gorham, 1839. And one there was — now distant far- Who shared my childish plays, With whom I roamed in deeper joy In boyhood's thoughtful days. Dear cousin, round thine early home When truant memory Lingers in dreams of fond regret, Dost thou e'er think of me? .Sa>uel Loxgkei. .^-^' V HENRY W. LONGFELLOAV. Ill 1855. THE WRITING OF "MY LOST YOUTH." In l.S4(;, while the Poet LoRofcHow was visiting his old home, he wrote in his journal of taking a long walk around Munjoy Hill and down to Fort Lawrence, Avhich was a fort of the War of 1812 at the easterly point of Portland, where the Grand Trunk Railway tracks are now. He says • "I lay down in one of the embrasures and listened to the lashing, luilin- sound of the sea just at my feet. It was a beautiful afternoon and the harl)()r was full of white sails, conung and departing, ^leditated a poem on the Old Fort." , It was not until March, 1855, that "My Lost Youth" was written. In his journal he said : "At night, as I lie in bed, a poem comes into my mind, a memory of Portland, my native town, the city by the sea. 'Sitteth the city wherein I was born Upon the seashore.' " The next day he said : "Wrote the poem : and am rather pleased with it and with bringing in of the old Lapland song,— 'A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are Ion.;;-, long thoughts.' " This poem is that most cherished by the people of his native city. It is their heritage from him, a trilnitc from a town-born 1)oy. It is as follows : 2.5 MY LOST YOUTH. Often I tliink of tlie l)eautifnl town Tliat is seated by the sea ; Often in thought go up and down The pleasant streets of that dear old town. And my youth comes back to me. And a verse of a Lapland song Is haunting my memorv still : '■A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts oi youth are long, long thoughts." 1 can see the shadowy lines of its trees. And catch in sudden gleams The sheen of the far-siurounding seas. And islands that were the Hesperides ( )f all my boyish dreams. And the burden of that old song, It murmurs and whispers still : "A boy's will is the wind's will. And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.' I remember the black wharves and the slips, And the sea-tides tossing free ; And Spanish sailors with bearded lips. And the beauty and mystery of the ships. And the magic of the sea. And the voice of that wa\ward song Is singing and saying still : "A bov's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.' I remember the bulwarks by the shore,' And the fort upon the hill ; ' The sunrise gun, with its hollow- roar, The drum-beat repeated o'er and o'er, And the bugle wild and shrill. .And the music of that old song Throbs in my memory still : ■'.\ boy's will is the wind's will. And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.' I remember the sea-light far awax, ■ How it thundered o'er the tide ! And the dead captains, as they lay ' In their graves o'erlooking the tramiuil bay Where they in battle died. And the sound of that mournful song (>oes through me with a thrill : "A boy's will is the wind's will. And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts. I can see the breezy dome of groves, The shadows of Deering's Woods ;'' And the friendships old and the early loves Come back with a Sabbath sound, as of doves In (luiet neighborhoods. 26 And the verse of that sweet old son^, It flutters and murmurs still : "A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." I remember the gleams and glooms that dart Across the schoolboy's brain ; The song and the silence in the heart, That in part are prophecies and in part Are longings wild and vain. And the voice of that fitful song Sings on, and is never still : "A boy's will is the wind's will. And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." There are things of which I may not speak ; There are dreams that cannot die ; There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak. And bring a pallor to the cheek. And a mist before the eye. And the words of that fatal song Come over me like a chill : "A boy's will is the wind's will. And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." Strange to me now are the forms I meet When I visit the dear old town ; Rut the native air is pure and sweet. And the trees that o'ershadow each well-known street, As they balance up and down, Are singing the beautiful song, Are sighing and whispering still : "A boy's will is the wind's will. And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." And Deering's Woods are fresh and fair. And with joy that is almost pain My heart goes back to wander there. And among the dreams of the days that were I find my lost youth again. And the strange and beautiful song, The groves are repeating it still : "A boy's will is the wind's will. And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." Henrv W. Longfellow. • "The bulwarks bv the shore " was Fort Lawrence. ^"The fort upon the hill" was Fort Sumner, off North street, where "Fort Sumner Park" now is and south of it. He said of that fort that it " was one of the terrors of my childhood." '■' "The sea fight far away " was the battle between the Enterprise and Boxer, m 1813, forty miles from Portland, off Bristol, Maine. ' "The dead captains as they lay, etc.," were Captains Burrows of the Enterprise and Blythe of the Boxer, both killed in the battle and buried side by side in the Eastern Cemetery. ■"■" Deering's Woods," now Deering Park, presented by that family to the city for a public park, in 1879. It contains about fifty acres. 27 UG 16 1905. "CHANGED." November 2o, 1847, Longfellow, while in Portland, wrote in his journal: "After church, walked with Fessenden [William Pitt] to the 'gallows' that used to l)e, — a Hne hillside looking down over the cove." This was at the corner of Congress and Vaughan Streets, at the head of Decring Avenue, called the "gallows" because at least two men had been hung there. This was the scene of "Changed," w^ritten by the poet, while on a visit to Portland, in 1858. CHANGED. From the outskirts of the town, Where of old the mile-stone stood, Now a stranger, looking down, 1 behold the shadowy crown Of the dark and haunted wood. Is it changed or am I changed ? Ah ! the oaks are fresh and green. But the friends with whom I ranged Through their thickets are estranged By the years that intervene. Bright as ever flows the sea, Bright as ever shines the sun. But alas ! they seem to me Not the sun that used to be, Not the tides that u.sed to run. "The dark and haunted wood " was Deering's Woods, now Deering Park. The cove, spoken of in his journal, was Back Cove, now called Back Bay. ' Honor to those whose words or deeds Thus help us in our daily needs. And by their o\erflow Raise us from what is low ! " 28 ^C^i;^f5^^f*^,, F- . FORM OF A BEQUEST. 1 fifive and bequeath to the Maine Historical Socioty, _ ^ Dollars, to he used for the ruaintenance of the Wadsworth-LongfelloAY House and the liibrarv of that Societv. Contributions should be sent to Fritz H. Jtirdan, Treiisurer of the Longfellow Memorial Fund, Portland, "Maine. THE RAINY DAY. The day in cold, and dark, and dreary ; It rains, and the wind is never weary ; The vine still dings to the mouldering wall, But at every gust the dead leaves fall, And the dav is dark and drear v. j\iy life is cold, and dark, and di-ear}' ; It rains, and the wind is never weary; My thoughts still cling to the mouldering past, But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast, And the days are dark and dreary. Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; Behind the clouds is the sun still shining ; Th3'' fate is the common fate of all. Into each life some rain must fall, Some days must }>e dark and dreary. ; «.-r£ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 995 794 5 -:^. k ■iy" s,M ^ 'T\ rOV r-^ -'t'^T i^ /^^'t ■ \^ ^^xr^ . ^-.r