Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

‘ [280] has had the rare fortune of being thoroughly appreciated in his own country and in other countries during his lifetime; how different, probably, would have been the career of Byron, of Keats, or of Shelley, had it been thus with them! It would be presumptuous for me, and out of place, to do more here than allude to the universal popularity of Longfellow's works wherever English is spoken; I believe it is not an exaggeration to say that his works are more popular than those of any other living poet. What child is there who has not heard of “Excelsior,” or of “Evangeline,” of “Miles Standish,” or of “Hiawatha” ? What songs more popular than “The Bridge,” and “I know a maiden fair to see” ? Or who, after reading the “Psalm of life,” or the “Footsteps of Angels,” does not feel a little less worldly, a little less of the earth, earthy? The world, indeed, owes a deep debt of gratitude to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. ... Bidding me note the beauty of the autumnal tints that make America in the “ fall” look as if rainbows were streaming out of the earth, Longfellow presented me with a goodly sample of the red and golden leaves of the previous autumn, which, although dry and faded, still glowed like gems; these leaves I brought away with me, and they now form a garland round the ’