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The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, With Bibliographical and Critical Notes
The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow With Bibliographical and Critical Notes Author:Henry Wadsworth Longfellow General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1896 Original Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin and company Subjects: Humor / General Juvenile Nonfiction / Poetry / General Literary Criticism / American / General Literary Criticism / Poetry Poetry / General Poetry / American / General Social Science / Ethnic Studi... more »es / Native American Studies Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: BY THE FIRESIDE RESIGNATION. Written in the autumn of 1848, after the death of his little daughter Fanny. There is a passage in the poet's diary, under date of November 12th, in which he says: "I feel very sad today. I miss very much my dear little Fanny. An inappeasable longing to see her comes over me at times, which I can hardly control." There is no flock, however watched and tended, But one dead lamb is there ! There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended, But has one vacant chair! The air is full of farewells to the dying, And mournings for the dead ; The heart of Rachel, for her children crying, Will not be comforted! Let us be patient! These severe afflictions Not from the ground arise, But oftentimes celestial benedictions Assume this dark disguise. We see but dimly through the mists and vapors ; Amid these earthly damps What seem to us but sad, funereal tapers May be heaven's distant lamps. There is no Death! What seems so is transition ; This life of mortal breath Is but a suburb of the life elysian, Whose portal we call Death. She is not dead, -- the child of our affection, -- But gone unto that school Where she no longer needs our poor protection, And Christ himself doth rule. In that great cloister's stillness and seclusion, By guardian angels led, Safe from tempt...« less