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

Suggestions for Reading.

In the rôle of Hosea Biglow, Lowell appears as the strongest of American humorists. No. 1 of the Biglow Papers should be read with its epistolary introduction to understand the dramatic machinery of the satire. No. 3 and No. 6 are good examples of Hosea's utterances. Of the second series, The Courtin' and Sunthin' in the Pastoral Line should be read not only as illustrating the poet's best achievement in the use of Yankee dialect, but also as remarkable presentations of the sentimental phases of rural New England life. Lowell's wit is exhibited most brilliantly in the Fable for Critics. To appreciate this, and also something of his keen critical insight, read the passages portraying Emerson, Bryant, Whittier, Cooper, Poe, Holmes, and Lowell himself. The solemn strength of Lowell's patriotism is felt especially in The Present Crisis and the Commemoration Ode. Along with the portraiture of Lincoln in this Ode should be read the fifth, sixth, and seventh strophes of Under the Old Elm, for that other masterly description of Washington. As a nature poet, Lowell may be seen at his best in An Indian-Summer Reverie, To a Dandelion, the preludes in the Vision of Sir Launfal, Under the Willows, and Pictures from Appledore. Lowell was much freer than Longfellow in the lyrical expression of his own joys and griefs. The love- poems of his earliest volume tell the story of his own romance, as Palinode, The Wind-Harp, After the Burial, and The Dead House are the poignant memorials of his great bereavement. These poems are remarkable for the intensity and frankness of their expression. Wonderfully pathetic are the three poems on the death of the child: The Changeling, She Came and Went, and The First Snowfall. On Board the '76 (in honor of Bryant), To H. W. L., To Whittier on his Seventy-fifth Birthday, and To Holmes on his Seventy-fifth Birthday are occasional poems which have a strong personal interest. Of the miscellaneous poems, select the sonnet To the Spirit of Keats, The Shepherd of King Admetus, Columbus, The Vision of Sir Launfal, The Singing Leaves, and Turner's Old Téméraire.

In Lowell's prose writings the student should read selections, at least, from Cambridge Thirty Years Ago, My Garden Acquaintance, and Democracy. Of the literary essays, that upon Chaucer is particularly attractive.

Authorities.

The Complete Works of Lowell are published by Houghton Mifflin Company. The Cambridge Edition contains the poems in a single volume. The Letters of Lowell, edited by Charles Eliot Norton, should not be overlooked; they have a distinguished place in our literature. Among biographies, that by Horace E. Scudder is standard. The most recent life of Lowell, especially suggestive in the critical study of his work and place in literature, is that by Ferris Greenslet (1905). James Russell Lowell and his Friends, by Edward Everett Hale, is a volume rich in reminiscence of the poet and his generation. T.W. Higginson, in Cheerful Yesterdays, W.D. Howells, in Literary Friends and Acquaintance, and J.T. Trowbridge, in My Own Story, have written of Lowell. There are many noteworthy essays on the poet, of which we may mention especially those by Barrett Wendell, G.W. Curtis, Henry James, G.E. Woodberry, and H.W. Mabie. Stedman, Trent, Richardson, and Wendell are authoritative references in criticism.