Acquisitions (50): Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

H. W. Longfellow: Poetical Works (1908)

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Julia Margaret Cameron: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1868)


The Poetical Works of Longfellow (1908)
[Acquired: John Perry's Global Village Antiques, Helensville - Sunday, February 21, 2021]:

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition. London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908.

H. W. Longfellow: Poetical Works (1908)

I heard a voice, that cried,
"Balder the Beautiful
Is dead, is dead!"
And through the misty air
Passed like the mournful cry
Of sunward sailing cranes.

I still remember the thrill I got when I first read these lines from Longfellow's translation / adaptation of the Danish poem "Tegnér's Drapa."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was the first poet who really appealed to me, and whose works I read from cover to cover - after the fortuitous discovery of a copy of his Poetical Works in 1975 or so.

The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1870)

I dutifully ploughed through all of it: good and bad, stilted and entertaining - the immense verse narratives such as The Golden Legend and Tales from a Wayside Inn, and the translations and lyrics he wrote in such profusion.

The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, introduced by Charles Eliot Norton (c. 1886)

A few years later I discovered another copy of his Poetical Works in my local second-hand shop. Shock, horror! It had a whole slew of poems not included in the earlier one. The Golden Legend had now become part two of a massive drama called 'Christus: A Mystery", the other parts of which (The New England Tragedies and The Divine Tragedy) were entirely unfamiliar to me.

I duly bought it, and for a while that assuaged my Longfellow fixation. I suppose, by then, I'd started to ask myself some questions about him. Much though I still liked (still like, for that matter) his writing, I could no longer convince myself that all of it was entirely first rate.

A. E. Housman: Collected Poems (1956)

Part of the blame for that must fall at the feet of my next great poetic enthusiasm, A. E. Housman, a copy of whose Collected Poems my father brought home for me one red-letter day (to be brutally honest, he actually brought it home for my brother, but I kicked up such a stink at what I considered this blatant act of favouritism that he ended up giving it to me instead. I still feel a bit guilty about that. At the time the only way I could think of proving worthy of the donation was to read the book assiduously again and again).

In gross marl, in blowing dust,
In the drowned ooze of the sea,
Where you would not, lie you must,
Lie you must, and not with me.

Housman clearly set himself a much higher standard when it came to concise, clipped diction and powerful themes. He was, in many ways, considerably better than Longfellow, I was forced reluctantly to concede, though he lacked the latter's grace as a storyteller.

W. H. Auden: Collected Shorter Poems: 1927-57 (1966)

But then Housman himself was brought into question by my next great discovery, W. H. Auden. The first poem I read by the latter was, in fact, his rather cruel sonnet on Housman:

No one, not even Cambridge was to blame
(Blame if you like the human situation):
Heart-injured in North London, he became
The Latin Scholar of his generation.

Deliberately he chose the dry-as-dust,
Kept tears like dirty postcards in a drawer;
Food was his public love, his private lust
Something to do with violence and the poor.

In savage foot-notes on unjust editions
He timidly attacked the life he led,
And put the money of his feelings on

The uncritical relations of the dead,
Where only geographical divisions
Parted the coarse hanged soldier from the don

Cruel, yes, but also brilliant. I loved and loathed it at the same time. One thing was certain, I had to read more of this new poet.

And so it went on. Nothing in my subsequent poetry reading has ever been quite so straightforward and parable-like as this journey from nineteenth century narrative verse to turn-of-the-century pastoral to twentieth century modernism. I still love all three of these poets, and keep on returning to them again and again.

So it was more than a little surprising to me to find a completely different arrangement and layout of these so-familiar poems in this (so-called) "Oxford Complete Copyright edition," then. 45 years on from my first encounter with Longfellow's work, I'm still making new discoveries about it.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Poetical Works (1854)

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Portraits of H. W. Longfellow (1910)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(1807-1882)

Poetry:


1. Voices of the Night (1839)
   • The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 1-13.
   • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 412-22.
   • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 1-6.
   • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 1-8.
2. Ballads and Other Poems (1841)
   • The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 53-80.
   • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 423-31.
   • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 11-18.
   • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 46-51.
3. Poems on Slavery (1842)
   • The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 92-99.
   • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 432-37.
   • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 19-21.
   • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 68-72.
4. The Spanish Student. A Play in Three Acts (1843)
   • The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 100-80.
   • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 1-48.
   • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 22-55.
   • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 73-115.
5. The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems (1845)
   • The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 181-222.
   • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 475-504.
   • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 56-71.
   • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 116-41.
6. Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847)
   • The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 223-78.
   • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 49-81.
   • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 72-97.
   • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 142-73.
7. The Seaside and the Fireside (1850)
   • The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 279-319.
   • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 449-74.
   • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 98-112.
   • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 174-93.
8. The Golden Legend (1851)
   • The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 320-440.
   • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 82-168.
   • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 422-483.
   • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 459-527.
9. The Song of Hiawatha (1855)
   • The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 441-561`.
   • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 169-276.
   • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 113-64.
   • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 202-73.
   • The Song of Hiawatha. 1855. Line Drawings by Joan Kiddell Monroe. 1960. Illustrated Classics for Older Readers. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. / New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1972.
10. The Courtship of Miles Standish and Other Poems (1858)
    • The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 589-625.
    • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 277-301.
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 167-85.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 274-97.
11. Birds of Passage, Flights 1-5 (1863)
    • [Flights 1] The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 626-50.
    • [Flights 1 & 2] The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 505-37.
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 186-204, 302-04, 334-39, 344-52.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 298-343.
12. Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863)
    • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 302-403.
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 205-94.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 344-458.
13. Household Poems (1865)
14. Flower-de-Luce (1867)
    • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 538-61.
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 295-301.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 531-40.
15. The New England Tragedies (1868)
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 484-548.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 564-628.
16. The Divine Tragedy (1871)
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 373-421.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 630-681.
17. Christus: A Mystery (1872)
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 371-72.
18. Three Books of Song (1872)
19. The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems (1875)
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 305-15.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 685-698.
20. Kéramos and Other Poems (1878)
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 340-43.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 724-29.
21. Ultima Thule (1880)
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 353-59.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 759-69.
22. In the Harbor (1882)
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 360-70.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 770-85.
23. Michael Angelo: A Fragment (1883)
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 564-620.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 786-844.

Translations:


24. Coplas de Don Jorge Manrique (1833)
    • The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852 (London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858]): 22-34.
    • The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870 (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882): 563-74.
    • The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton (London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d.): 621-25.
    • The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition (London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908): 27-35.
25. Dante's Divine Comedy (1867)
    • The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. Trans. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1867. Sir John Lubbock’s Hundred Books. London & New York: George Routledge and Sons Limited, n.d.
    • Dante’s Divine Comedy: Hell; Purgatory; Paradise. Trans. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1867. Illustrated by Gustave Doré. 1861-68. Ed. Anna Amari-Parker. London: Arcturus Publishing Limited, 2006.




H. W. Longfellow: Prose Works: Outre-Mer & Drift-Wood; Hyperion & Kavanagh (Riverside Edition, 1886)


Prose:


26. "The Trouvères [The Ancient Lyric Poetry of the North of France]" (1831)
    • Prose Writings of Longfellow: Hyperion, Kavanagh, and The Trouvères. Ed. William Tirebuck. The Scott Library (London: Walter Scott, Limited, n.d.): 324-34.
27. "The Devotional Poetry of Spain" (1832)
    • Prose Writings of Longfellow: Hyperion, Kavanagh, and The Trouvères. Ed. William Tirebuck. The Scott Library (London: Walter Scott, Limited, n.d.): 306-23.
28. "The Blank Book of a Country Schoolmaster" (1834-35)
    • Outre-Mer and Driftwood. Ed. William Tirebuck. Longfellow’s Works, Vol. 1 of 11. The Riverside Edition (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1886): 411-24.
29. Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea (1835)
    • The Prose Works: Hyperion, Kavanagh, Outre-Mer. Illustrated by Sir John Gilbert, R.A. H. W. Longfellow’s Works (London: George Routledge and Sons, n.d. [c.1883]): 295-506.
    • Outre-Mer and Driftwood. Ed. William Tirebuck. Longfellow’s Works, Vol. 1 of 11. The Riverside Edition (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1886): 17-278.
30. Hyperion, a Romance (1839)
    • The Prose Works: Hyperion, Kavanagh, Outre-Mer. Illustrated by Sir John Gilbert, R.A. H. W. Longfellow’s Works (London: George Routledge and Sons, n.d. [c.1883]): 1-195.
    • Prose Writings of Longfellow: Hyperion, Kavanagh, and The Trouvères. Ed. William Tirebuck. The Scott Library (London: Walter Scott, Limited, n.d.): 1-206.
31. Kavanagh (1849)
    • The Prose Works: Hyperion, Kavanagh, Outre-Mer. Illustrated by Sir John Gilbert, R.A. H. W. Longfellow’s Works (London: George Routledge and Sons, n.d. [c.1883]): 197-291.
    • Prose Writings of Longfellow: Hyperion, Kavanagh, and The Trouvères. Ed. William Tirebuck. The Scott Library (London: Walter Scott, Limited, n.d.): 207-305.
32. Drift-Wood (1857)
    • Outre-Mer and Driftwood. Ed. William Tirebuck. Longfellow’s Works, Vol. 1 of 11. The Riverside Edition (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1886): 17-278.




H. W. Longfellow: Prose, Poetry & Divine Comedy (2 vols / 6 vols / 3 vols, Riverside Edition, 1886)



1. Outre-Mer & Drift-Wood (1835 / 1857)
2. Hyperion & Kavanagh (1839 / 1849)
3. Voices of the Night etc. (1839)
4. Evangeline etc. (1847)
5. Birds of Passage etc. (1852)
6. Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863)
7. Christus: A Mystery (1872)
8. Judas Maccabaeus, Michael Angelo etc. (1882)
9. Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno (1867)
10. Dante's Divine Comedy: Purgatorio (1867)
11. Dante's Divine Comedy: Paradiso (1867)


Collections:


33. The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: New and Complete Edition, including Miles Standish and Other Poems. With Illustrations by John Gilbert. 1852. London: Richard Griffin and Company, n.d. [c.1858].


34. The Poetical Works, Including “The Seaside and the Fireside," and the Author’s Translations and Later Poems. Ed. William Michael Rossetti. 1870. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1882.


35. The Prose Works: Hyperion, Kavanagh, Outre-Mer. Illustrated by Sir John Gilbert, R.A. H. W. Longfellow’s Works. London: George Routledge and Sons, n.d. [c.1883].


36. The Poetical Works. Introduction by Charles Eliot Norton. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n.d. [c.1886].


37. Outre-Mer and Driftwood. Ed. William Tirebuck. Longfellow’s Works, Vol. 1 of 11. The Riverside Edition. London: George Routledge and Sons, 1886.


38. The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford Complete Copyright Edition. London, New York & Toronto: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1908.


39. Prose Writings of Longfellow: Hyperion, Kavanagh, and The Trouvères. Ed. William Tirebuck. The Scott Library. London: Walter Scott, Limited, n.d.

Edited:


40. Poets and Poetry of Europe (1844)
41. The Waif (1845)
42. The Estray: A Collection of Poems (1847)
43. Poems of Places, 31 vols (1876-79)

Franklin Simmons: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Portland, Maine, 1888)

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• category - American Poetry & Drama: Poetry

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