Chapter James Russell Lowell of Index by Simonds History of American Literature

Biglow. These compositions were accompanied by introductory letters, commenting on the work in hand, and by editorial notes signed H. W., these initials standing for the Rev. Homer Wilbur, A. M., pastor of the First Church, in Jaalam, and critical sponsor for his young parishioner, Hosea. The Biglow Papers, as they were called when the series was collected and published in 1848, present in crisp and pungent satire the widely felt opposition of the North to the war with Mexico. Lowell himself was moved by the conviction that the real purpose of the war was to expand slave territory, and thus voiced the protest of New England against this design. The work is filled with epigram and sarcasm, which of course were most effective at the time which gave them their application. It is difficult for us now to appreciate how effective these shafts of Lowell's exuberant wit really were; but they are yet recognized as the keenest examples of political satire in our own literature, and among the best ever written. In the same year which brought the publication of The Biglow Papers, 1848, another humorous poem of some length and of equal pungency appeared. This was the Fable for Critics, a witty review of contemporary American literature. It was in the strict sense an appreciation of the writers of the time, in which compliment is tempered with shrewd hits at their failings; a piece of good-natured fun which it is impossible to read without a sense of the critical insight of its author. For example:--

   "There comes Emerson first, whose rich words, every one,
Are like gold nails in temples to hang trophies on,
Whose prose is grand verse, while his verse, the Lord knows,
Is some of it pr -- No, 't is not even prose" --

and so on with the rest of the choir, including Lowell himself. The Fable was written rapidly and without thought of publication; as the various parts were completed they were sent to a friend in New York. Eventually they were gathered and printed, as Dr. Holmes said, "capped with a percussion preface, and cocked with a title-page as apropos as a wink to a joke."

Sir Launfal.

In sharp contrast to the two works just described is The Vision of Sir Launfal, composed and published in this same notable year, 1848. This, the most popular and one of the most brilliant of the poet's compositions, is a bold excursion into the twilight land of Arthurian romance which Tennyson was to make his own.¹ The exquisite preludes to the two parts of rather slender narrative reveal Lowell's power of lyric description at its best.

"And what is so rare as a day in June?" introduces the familiar passage which everybody recognizes as the supreme tribute of poetry to the season of perfect days, and distinguishes the singer as the poet of the month.

Personal Experiences.

Oftener than we are apt to remember, these years of Lowell's early manhood were invaded by sorrow. In 1847, the parents lost their little daughter Blanche, scarce a twelvemonth old; three years later, Rose, their third child, died in infancy. The intimate expression of the poet's grief is given in the affecting lyrics She Came and Went, The Changeling, and The First Snowfall. In 1850, occurred the death of the poet's mother, from whom he had inherited the mystical tendency so clearly felt in his serious work. Her intensely imaginative mind had become disordered, and for several years she had been an inmate of an asylum. The cloud had rested heavily over the household, but bitterness was still in store. In 1852, while enjoying their first trip abroad, the Lowells were again bereaved in the death of Walter, their little son, as they were spending the winter in Rome. Meanwhile Mrs. Lowell's health was declining, and soon after the return home, in 1853, the poet buried the wife of his youth. His weight of sorrow is felt in Palinode, After the Burial, and The Dead House. "Something broke my life in two," he said later, "and I cannot piece it together again."

Lecturer, Professor, Editor.

In the winter of 1854-1855, Lowell gave a course of lectures on Poetry at the Lowell Institute, a course which established the poet's place as an authority and critic of high rank. At the same time he was appointed to be Longfellow's successor in the professorship at Harvard. A year was spent in Europe preparatory to