Some years ago at this time of year, I posted a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and received some admonition about choosing it. Those criticisms were from people who misinterpreted the poem at face value and thought the poet was a racist.
He was, in fact, an abolitionist who put his views into poetry. The poem in question was I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, which many of us know as a hymn.
Christmas Bells begins with this stanza:
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men!
A few stanzas later, Longfellow wrote the following:
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Source: National Park Service The Christmas Bells poem (1865) by Longfellow is in the public domain.
These two stanzas, the first of which some of my readers misinterpreted, were left out of the hymn when the poem was set to music. Longfellow’s grief in this poem – over the war, the untimely death of his wife, and the significant injury to his son during the Civil War, comes through.
But by the end of the poem, Longfellow writes of hope being restored – reflecting the resilience of the human spirit.
Full text of Christmas Bells can be read, here.
Longfellow’s poetry keeps returning to me again and again
Last year, I worked with an 8th-grade English as a Second Language student. Of course, I wanted to address poetry with her. I pulled Paul Revere’s Ride who was also written by Longfellow.
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
The whole text of Paul Revere’s Ride is available here. It is also in the public domain, first published in 1860.
Finally, last night, I found another Longfellow poem quite by accident. I saw a post on social media that included an old map of Wisconsin labeling Lake Superior as Gitche Gumee. Having grown up with a very literate mother, I knew I had heard of Gitche Gumee before but couldn’t remember where it came from.
When I looked it up, imagine my surprise when I saw Gitche Gumee was in a series of poems by Longfellow, entitled The Song of Hiawatha (source). This is from the poem The Song of Hiawatha XXII: Hiawatha’s Departure. Gitche Gumee is also featured in parts VIII and IX of the poem.
By the shore of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
At the doorway of his wigwam,
In the pleasant Summer morning,
Hiawatha stood and waited.
Source: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: A Maine Historical Society Website
I can now confidently say that I’ve found my favorite poet. It is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) of Maine. I find so many connections to the words in his works. Now that I know this, I will continue to read more of his works.
You can search Longfellow’s works here.
Other odds and ends
My husband and I traveled again on Wednesday and Thursday this week to be at my dad’s in New York for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. We’ve stopped making the trip in one day – it’s over 900 miles. The trip home to Wisconsin two weeks ago (12/3) was over 16 hours long in snowy conditions. It was too much, so we are now splitting the trip into two days.
At home, before we came, I made three types of Christmas cookies, two of which were types my mom made regularly, and brought these with us. My dad is eating them now, as I type. I’m also planning some special meals. We are lucky to be able to spend this time with him.
Holiday Poem Exchange
I was touched this week to receive a package from Tracey Kiff-Judson, my exchange partner. She put so much thought into what she sent me. I was extremely touched by her kindness. Thank you, Tracey!
Tracey’s talents, extend beyond poetry, as you can see – she painted the card and poem photo. Not surprisingly, it looks like our labrador, Molly! I’ll reach out to Tracey to see If I can share more details of what she sent. Apparently, we both enjoyed the exchange so much there are second packages being sent each way! Thanks to Tabatha Yeatts for organizing the exchange again this year.
As always, you can catch up with me on Medium. I’ve been able to ramp up my writing in the last two weeks and December has already surpassed October and November in terms of views and income. The ideas are flowing again. In fact, I’ve had to get up in the night to jot down some poetic phrases!
If you go to my page on Medium and have a desire to read an article in its entirety, send me a message – I can send you a friend link to read for free. I just need the name of the article(s) you want to read.
Here are a couple:
It’s Poetry Friday! If you want to know more about what Poetry Friday participation entails, check this post by poet, author, and teacher, Renee M. LaTulippe. Our host this week is the talented Jone Rush MacCulloch. Thanks for hosting, Jone!
The Apples in My Orchard 
Leave a comment