Fireside Poet

That's right! Another poet's birthday- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, born this day in 1807.

A Fireside poet, he's one of the best metronomist to set ink to verse. Some of his best works were poems that were specifically 'American' and dealt with topics such as the Civil War (e.g. Paul Revere's Ride) and the life of Native Americans (e.g. Hiawatha).

As a poet, he experienced his fame during his lifetime- a fame that was international!

Happy date of birth, big guy!


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To-day We Make the Poet's Words Our Own

To-day we make the poet's words our own,
And utter them in plaintive undertone;
Nor to the living only be they said,
But to the other living called the dead,
Whose dear, paternal images appear
Not wrapped in gloom, but robed in sunshine here;
Whose simple lives, complete and without flaw,
Were part and parcel of great Nature's law;
Who said not to their Lord, as if afraid,
"Here is thy talent in a napkin laid,"
But labored in their sphere, as men who live
In the delight that work alone can give.
Peace be to them; eternal peace and rest,
And the fulfilment of the great behest:
"Ye have been faithful over a few things,
Over ten cities shall ye reign as kings."

-HWL