[Gutenberg 13830] • The Wreck of the Hesperus

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: The Song of Hiawatha, Evangeline, Paul Revere's Ride, the Wreck of the Hesperus, the Village Blacksmith, the Courtship of Miles Standish, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, Excelsior, the Children's Hour, a Psalm of Life, the Sermon of St. Francis, Tales of a Wayside Inn, the Saga of King Olaf. Excerpt: "Footprints on the sands of time" " A Psalm of Life " is a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . Composition and publication history Longfellow wrote the poem shortly after completing lectures on German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and was heavily inspired by him. He was also inspired to write it by a heartfelt conversation he had with friend and fellow professor at Harvard University Cornelius Conway Felton; the two had spent an evening "talking of matters, which lie near one's soul: and how to bear one's self doughtily in Life's battle: and make the best of things." The next day, he wrote "A Psalm of Life." The poem was first published in The Knickerbocker attributed only to "L." Longfellow was promised five dollars for its publication, though he never received payment. "A Psalm of Life" and other early poems by Longfellow, including "The Village Blacksmith " and "The Wreck of the Hesperus," were collected and published as Voices of the Night in 1839. This volume sold for 75 cents. In the summer of 1838, Longfellow wrote "The Light of Stars," a poem which he called "A Second Psalm of Life." References (URLs online) Websites (URLs online) A hyperlinked version of this chapter is at Monument to Acadians exiled from Canada in 1755 (in St. Martinville, Louisiana ) Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie is a poem published in 1847 by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set du...