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The Longfellow-Freiligrath Correspondence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
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- Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1933
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page 1226 note 1 Written ten days after the first meeting. Longfellow had spent much of the intervening time in foot-tours with Landrat Heuberger, Graf Hohenthal, Graf Schack, and others to various romantic places in the vicinity of Boppard; also, in reading the poems of Herwegh.
page 1226 note 2 Hyperion, and Ballads and Other Poems, which Longfellow had given to Freiligrath at his first visit, June 12, 1842.
page 1226 note 3 Das malerische und romantische Westfalen, by Freiligrath and Levin Schücking, published in Leipzig, 1839–1840.
page 1226 note 4 Deutsche Dichter der Gegenwart, erläutert von August Nodnagel, Darmstadt, 1842. Contains 86 pages devoted to Freiligrath and his poetry, and includes the text of eight of his poems.
page 1226 note 5 Karl Immermann—Blätter der Erinnerung an ihn, Stuttgart, 1842.
page 1227 note 1 Kloster Marienberg, where Longfellow was taking the baths, is on the edge of Boppard.
page 1227 note 2 Longfellow's friend at the baths, who took him to pay his first visit to Freiligrath.
page 1227 note 3 Director of the baths.
page 1228 note 1 Zur Kunde der Literatur des Auslandes.
page 1228 note 2 By Gustav Pfizer.
page 1228 note 3 A German physician in Cambridge, Mass.
page 1228 note 4 On August 27, 1842, Longfellow recorded in his diary the reading of Frau von Binzer's story, Die Verlobung.
page 1229 note 1 Mary Howitt (née Botham), 1799–1888. A prolific writer, closely associated with her husband in varied literary work. The latter (1792–1879) gave efficient help to Freiligrath, later, in England, when his fortunes were at their lowest ebb.
page 1229 note 2 Skeleton in Armor, in its first form, as published in the Knickerbocker, for January, 1841.
page 1230 note 1 Longfellow had just returned from visiting Heuberger and the Freiligraths at St. Goar. Langewiesche commissioned the publication of Das malerische und romantische Westfalen. In Longfellow's private library is a copy of Sagen und Märchenwald im Blüthenschmuck, by “L. Wiese”—Barmen, 1842.
page 1230 note 2 Prof. Karl Simrock, of Bonn, (1802–1876).
page 1230 note 3 Wrongly dated, “20 Juli.”
page 1230 note 1 The full text of Pfizer's letter to Longfellow, dated July 10, 1842, is given in Appelmann, p. 16. It expresses his thanks for Longfellow's translation of “Der Junggesell,” which Freiligrath had sent for publication in the Morgenblatt at Stuttgart. Pfizer had found “The Indian Hunter” in Griswold's collection. He encloses a poem of his own, having to do with a “blacksmith,” and urges the American poet to visit him at Stuttgart.
page 1230 note 2 “Two Locks of Hair,” in Longfellow's translation.
page 1230 note 3 Samuel Woodworth (1785–1842), author of the “Old Oaken Bucket.” One of the judges who awarded the prize to Longfellow's pseudonymous “Little Man in Gosling Green,” 1834.
page 1230 note 4 Published in 1842 by Rufus Wilmot Griswold.
page 1230 note 5 Justizrat Buchner and wife.
page 1232 note 1 “St.” refers to “den heiligen Aprikosenkuchen,” above (Cf. Letter No. 4).
page 1232 note 2 Wrongly dated, “July 22.”
page 1232 note 3 “Nuns”—humorously of the lady-guests at Kloster Marienberg.
page 1232 note 4 George Henry Calvert (1803–1889), author of a metrical translation of Don Carlos and other works. Later, mayor of Newport, R.I.
page 1233 note 1 The tour, which included Rolandseck, the Seven Hills, Bonn, and Cologne, began on July 25, and lasted four days. The party consisted of the Freiligraths, Buchners, Fräulein von Gall, Karl Simrock, Dr. Krah and his sister, and Longfellow. See Freiligrath-Kroeker, “Ein Rhein-Idyll,” Deutsche Revue, April, 1901.
page 1233 note 2 Freiligrath's Rolands-Album (Köln, 1840) and two volumes of Matzerath & Simrock's Rheinisches Jahrbuch (1840 and 1841).
page 1234 note 1 On July 30, 1842, an elaborate ball was held in the Marienberg establishment. Longfellow may have been a member of the Committee, for this reply to the invitation is among the papers at Craigie House.
page 1234 note 2 The owner of the apartments occupied by the Freiligraths in St. Goar was named Ihl, and their quarters were given the title “I(h)lium.” Freiligrath was known as “Hector,” his wife as “Andromache,” and the beautiful Fräulein von Gall, who made her home for the summer of 1842 under the same roof, was variously styled “Helena” and “Gallina.' The American poet (three years older than his German colleague) was adopted into the circle as ”Nestor“—the baths of Marienberg becoming ”Pylos.“
page 1234 note 3 “Hektors Abschied.”
page 1235 note 1 Fräulein Louise von Gall (1815–1855), a poetess from Darmstadt, noted also for her beauty and her gift of song. She married Levin Schücking in 1843.
page 1235 note 2 Heuberger.
page 1235 note 3 1800–1875. Author of Rheinischer Sagenkreis, Burg Stolzenfels, etc. On her invitation, a delightful excursion was made to the Wispertal on August 5. See Deutsche Revue, April, 1901.
page 1235 note 4 Owner of the world-famed Johannisberg vineyard.
page 1235 note 5 A faintly-veiled allusion to possibilities in connection with “Helena” von Gall.
page 1235 note 6 A long and circumstantial letter from Heuberger to Longfellow, dated August 1, 1842, is printed in Appelmann, pp. 20–22.
Im Mondschein maut schon längst die alte Katze,
Die nach der Maus, versteckt in düstrer Mauer,
Jahrhunderte schon liegend auf der Lauer,
Vergebens krallt die festgebannte Tatze.
Du aber wie 'ne eingefangene Ratze
Rennst zagend in des Rattenfängers Bauer,
Genießest Wasser nur und Wasserschauer
Und Atzung ohne Würz', wie Judenmatze.
O Sänger, dessen Lied von ew'ger Dauer,
Wirf ab des Wassers Sklavenjoch so sauer,
Schwing dich, excelsior, mit Einem Satze!
Im Mondschein aufwärts dann zum alten Schatze!
Dort bannt ein schäumend Glas die Wassertrauer,
Wir lachen keck den Nixen in die Fratze!
Ursula
An H. W. L.
Auf thut das Vollbad seinen wüsten Krater,
Alltäglich Dich, Verehrter, zu empfangen;
Wir aber rufen mit verschämten Wangen:
O, lass dein Bad, sei unsrer Katz' der Kater!
Schon steht geschmückt dein hochzeitlich Theater;
Die Grille zirpt, Johanniswürmchen prangen,
Das erste Viertel auch ist aufgegangen,
Das sich verklärt zum runden Vollmond spater!
Drum laß daheim die Trockentücher hangen,
Leg' an das Ringlein und die goldnen Spangen,
Schon kommt herab aus Petersberg der Pater!
Elftausend Jungfraun und ihr würd'ger Vater,
Sanct Ursulus, stehn harrend voll Verlangen;
Drum komm!—So rathet Freiligrath, der Rather.
page 1236 note 3 The ruin, Die Katze, was a favorite place for excursions by the group at St. Goar.
page 1237 note 1 Schlickum, a painter, met at Rolandseck during the Rhine-trip, July 25, 1842. In 1851, he emigrated to Michigan.
page 1237 note 2 See Note 5, p. 1226.
page 1237 note 3 Friedrich Wilhelm von Hackländer (1816–1877), author.
page 1238 note 1 On August 28, Longfellow took part in a tea-party, with the Freiligraths, at Rheinfels.
page 1238 note 2 Alfred (1840) and Burg Stolzenfels (1842).
page 1238 note 3 Cf. Goethe's “Fischer.”
page 1239 note 1 Longfellow had wished to visit the military manoeuvres of some 50,000 troops near Bonn, and urged Freiligrath to go with him. The latter felt compelled, for political reasons, to refuse. From September 10–12 Longfellow attended the affair, alone, stopping to call on Karl Simrock at Bonn—but the weather proved bad and he was much disappointed in the excursion.
page 1239 note 2 “Unless things turn out otherwise.”
page 1239 note 3 Castles on the Rhine: “Die feindlichen Brüder.”
page 1239 note 4 Frau Freiligrath.
page 1239 note 5 See Note 4, p. 1226.
page 1240 note 1 The foundation-stone of the newer part of Cologne Cathedral was laid, with much patriotic ceremony, on Sept. 4, 1842.
page 1241 note 1 On September 18, 1842, Longfellow left Marienberg for a short trip to South Germany. On the way, he visited a Naturforscherversammlung at Mainz (19–21), and reached Nürnberg on September 23. On September 29, he returned to St. Goar, to take leave of his friends. He remained there until the first of October, when he made his way down the Rhine to Belgium, and thence to England, sailing from Bristol to New York on October 22.
page 1241 note 2 Canto xix.
page 1242 note 1 Cf. Aeneid, iv, 625. Here quoted from Freiligrath's poem, “Aus Spanien”.
page 1242 note 2 President Quincy wrote that he regretted Longfellow's continued ill-health, but that he had secured the six-months' vacation only with difficulty. Another year in Europe would be allowed, but “without salary.”
page 1242 note 3 “In the market-place of Bruges,” published 1843.
page 1242 note 4 The First Act, published in Graham's Magazine for September, 1842.
page 1243 note 1 Longfellow's study, at this time, was on the second floor of Craigie House, looking out on the River Charles.
page 1243 note 2 Drawn from life by J. H. Schramm, 1840, engraved by Schwerdgeburth. This portrait had a place of honor in Longfellow's study throughout the remainder of his life.
page 1243 note 3 George Cruikshank (1792–1878), artist and caricaturist; Daniel Maclise (1806–1870), historical painter; Wm. Chas. Macready (1793–1873), actor and manager.
page 1243 note 4 Samuel Rogers (1763–1855), poet; Thomas Campbell (1777–1844), poet; Edward Moxon (1801–1858); John Kenyon (1784–1856), poet and philanthropist; Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795–1854), judge and author; Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892), poet; Richard Monckton Milnes, Baron Houghton (1809–1885), author; Marguerite, Countess of Blessington (1789–1849), authoress; Alfred, Count d'Orsay (1801–1852), artist and leader of fashion; W. S. Landor (1775–1864), author and poet
page 1244 note 1 From von Schröter's Finnische Runen. Finnisch und Deutsch, Stuttgart, 1834. Longfellow read this collection (which, later, had direct influence upon the metrical form of Hiawatha) at Marienberg in 1842.
page 1244 note 2 Published in a thin volume immediately after Longfellow's arrival in America. An earlier poem, “The Warning,” was included.
page 1244 note 3 Referring to Freiligrath's exotic poems, especially “Der Mohrenfürst” and “Scipio.”
page 1244 note 4 Professor C. C. Felton of Harvard (1807–1862), later President of the University; Charles Sumner (1811–1874), the distinguished American statesman, Longfellow's closest friend.
page 1245 note 1 A seal-ring, given by friends, and used on Longfellow's letters, had been lost, but was later replaced by a duplicate.
page 1246 note 1 The Rev. Artemus Bowers Muzzey, D.D. (1802–1892), prominent Unitarian clergyman of Cambridgeport, Mass., who was granted leave of absence, on account of ill-health, in 1843, and spent some months in Europe.
page 1246 note 2 Dr. Samuel G. Howe (1801–1876), noted Boston philanthropist, at the time on his wedding-trip. A Cabinet Order forbade him to enter Prussia.
page 1246 note 3 “I Slew the Chief of the Muskokee,” an alleged Choctaw song, apparently published in some American newspaper. Freiligrath assumed that the English version was by Longfellow; later, he published the translation, “Lied der alten Tschaktas.”
page 1247 note 1 Apparently about Longfellow.
page 1247 note 2 William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878), noted poet and journalist.
page 1247 note 3 This enormous letter, preserved in Craigie House, was written at St. Goar from June 7 to August 20, 1843. It is reprinted in Appelmann, pages 28 to 39.
page 1247 note 4 In the winter of 1842–1843 the St. Goar-group kept up a lively interchange of wits at its informal gatherings. Heuberger (under the name “Rheinfels”) and Freiligrath (“Philalethes”) wrote a set of twelve humorous sonnets, dedicated to Fräulein von Gall, paying homage to her irresistible beauty and her gift of song. Among them was the somewhat daring “Bruder Jonathan,” which reviled the American visitor for his indifference to her charms. This cycle was privately printed at Coblenz under the title: Huhn und Nachtigall. Sonettische Eierschnur auf und für Gallina. Dargebracht zum neuen Jahre 1843 von zweien ihrer Verehrer. St. Goar, mit Lurlei'schen Typen. (Copy in Craigie House).
page 1247 note 5 Levin Schücking (1814–1883), author.
page 1247 note 6 Longfellow and Miss Frances Appleton were married on July 13, 1843.
page 1247 note 7 In Longfellow's Hyperion.
page 1248 note 1 John R. Chorley (1807?-1867), poet and scholar; Henry F. Chorley (1808–1872), author and critic.
page 1249 note 1 Cf. Note 3, p. 1246.
page 1250 note 1 “Flotten-Träume”: 6 Sonnets, 1843.
page 1250 note 2 In the poem, “Ein Brief,” January, 1843.
page 1250 note 3 Of 300 Reichstaler, granted in 1842, and resigned by Freiligrath in 1844.
page 1251 note 1 Washington Allston (1779–1843), painter, poet, and novelist.
page 1251 note 2 W. H. Prescott (1796–1859), historian.
page 1251 note 3 Landrat Heuberger.
page 1251 note 4 See Note 4, p. 1231.
page 1252 note 1 On his “first coming to Cambridge” (Dec. 1836), Longfellow lived on Kirkland Street, at Dr. Steams'. In the summer of 1837 he removed to Craigie House, which remained his home until his death.
page 1253 note 1 Poets and Poetry of Europe, published 1845.
page 1253 note 2 See Note 4, p. 1247.
page 1253 note 3 See Note 3, p. 1246.
page 1253 note 4 Vol. xxi, 29–42: “Anthologia Germanica, No. xviii. Freiligrath's Poems.” (January, 1843).
page 1254 note 1 See Note 1, p. 1247.
page 1255 note 1 To Heuberger.
page 1255 note 2 These chairs seem never to have been achieved.
page 1255 note 3 Pun.
page 1255 note 4 Felicia Hemans (1793–1835), English poetess.
page 1256 note 1 Richard S. Willis (1819–1900), poet, journalist and musical composer; youngest brother of the well-known N. P. Willis. Composer of the lovely Christmas-hymn, “Carol.”
page 1256 note 2 Undated. The poem, “Nuremberg,” was written in 1844, published 1845.
page 1256 note 3 “In the valley of the Pegnitz.”
page 1257 note 1 Bourgeois Gentilhomme, ii, 6.
page 1257 note 2 Note 1 refers to stanza 4 of “Nuremberg”; note 2, to stanza 6; note 3, to stanza 21.
page 1257 note 3 Die Volkslieder der Deutschen, acquired by Longfellow in Heidelberg, 1836.
page 1258 note 1 Freiligrath was forced to seek refuge in Belgium, Switzerland, and (1846) London, where he remained till 1848.
page 1258 note 2 Rev. Charles T. Brooks (1813–1883): Songs and Ballads of German Lyric Poets, Boston, 1842.
page 1258 note 3 Stuttgart, 1846.
page 1259 note 1 The long-standing friendship with Heuberger was soon renewed.
page 1259 note 2 Thomas Gold Appleton (1812–1884), brilliant Bostonian wit.
page 1259 note 3 Later, Mrs. Kroeker; gifted in translating German poems into English.
page 1260 note 1 Charles Beck (1798–1866), Professor of Latin in Harvard. He joined actively with Longfellow in securing funds for the removal of Freiligrath and his family to America.
page 1260 note 2 Quoted (from O'Keefe) by Lamb, at the head of his essay, “The Superannuated Man.”
page 1260 note 3 “To a Child.”
page 1261 note 1 In New York City.
page 1261 note 2 See Note 2, p. 1243.
page 1262 note 1 Also mentioned in Hyperion, iii, v.
page 1262 note 2 Schiller's “Teilung der Erde.”
page 1263 note 1 The “genealogical tree” referred to in Letter No. 28.
page 1264 note 1 Gesammelte Dichtungen, Stuttgart, 1870, iii, 197, with title: “Nach England.”
page 1264 note 2 Juvenal vi, 397: varicosus fiet haruspex.
page 1265 note 1 The last words of Freiligrath's poem, “Springer” (1846).
page 1266 note 1 The revolution which led to the establishment of the Second Republic.
page 1267 note 1 At the close of Part the First, canto v.
page 1267 note 2 Longfellow's novel, Kavanagh, Boston, 1849.
page 1267 note 3 She died on September 11, 1848, in her second year.
page 1268 note 1 Longfellow first met him Feb. 26, 1849, “an Ojibway preacher and poet.” Copway wrote an autobiography, and Traditional History of the Ojibway Nation (Boston, 1851). He gave public lectures in Boston, 1849.
page 1269 note 1 Received by Longfellow on July 3, 1851: “a long and very pleasant letter.”
page 1269 note 2 Published under her husband's name in a group of translations from Longfellow.
page 1270 note 1 Freiligrath's second residence in London extended from 1851 to 1868.
page 1270 note 2 At the Crystal Palace, London, 1851.
page 1271 note 1 An edition appeared in New York, 1858.
page 1271 note 2 Later, Mrs. Wiens.
page 1272 note 1 Thomas Buchanan Read (1822–1872), author of “Sheridan's Ride,” and painter of the portrait of Longfellow's three daughters.
page 1273 note 1 Vergil, Eclogues, iii, 111.
page 1273 note 2 Bayard Taylor (1825–1878), poet, traveler, translator of Faust, United States Minister to Germany.
page 1273 note 3 Compare Note 1, p. 1233. While climbing the Drachenfels, the hilarity of the party roes to such a height that the learned Simrock could express himself only by throwing a series of somersaults on the grass—a gesture which the Harvard Professor did not regard as edifying.
page 1276 note 1 A letter from Calvert to Longfellow, in furtherance of this project, is preserved in Craigie House.
page 1277 note 1 James Russell Lowell (1819–1891), poet, essayist and diplomat. Succeeded to Longfellow's professorship at Harvard, 1855; Grace Greenwood, pseudonym for Sarah Jane Lippincott (1823–1904), authoress; Francis Bennoch, merchant and patron of art, lived at Blackheath. He aided Hawthrone; William D. Ticknor (1810–1864), noted Boston publisher.
page 1277 note 2 Carové, in The Story without an End. Cf. Hyperion, iv, vi.
page 1278 note 1 Dessau, 1854.
page 1278 note 2 Longfellow's resignation was accepted on Aug. 26, 1854.
page 1278 note 3 Emmanuel Vitalis Scherb, German-speaking immigrant from Basel. Introduced at Craigie House, 1848. Well-versed in literature; admired, consulted, and frequently entertained by Longfellow. Suggested subject of New England Tragedies. In 1860 called to Charleston, S. C., as Universalist pastor.
page 1278 note 4 Maximilian (Baron) Schele de Vere, born in Sweden, November 1, 1820. Studied in Berlin and Bonn (Ph.D., 1841), and entered Prussian military and diplomatic service. 1843, came to U. S. September, 1844, elected Professor of Modern Languages at the University of Virginia. Retired from active service, 1895. Died at Washington, D. C., May 10, 1898.
page 1279 note 1 See Note 2, p. 1243.
page 1280 note 1 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864), the novelist, was appointed United States Consul to Liverpool in 1853.
page 1280 note 1 Fragment, from S. Longfellow's Life of H. W. L. The original is lost.
page 1280 note 3 The Athenaeum for Nov. 10, 1855, opened with a long and favorable review of Hiawatha. On Nov. 17, William Howitt followed with an article pointing out the connection between the meter of Hiawatha and that of the Finnish epic Kalevala. On Dec. 1, a contributor (“W. S.”) objected to this view, because of the lack of alliteration in Longfellow's poem, and indicated the influence of Spanish models. The two following numbers of the Athenaeum brought controversial articles by Howitt and “W.S.” On Dec. 15, W. Brockie supported the theory of a Finnish model. Om Dec. 29 was published a communication from Freiligrath, “The Measure of Hiawatha,” which strongly confirmed Howitt's views, and brought forward the fact that Longfellow had studied the Finnische Runen in 1842.
page 1280 note 4 See Note 1, p. 1244.
page 1282 note 1 See Note 3, p. 1280.
page 1282 note 2 The following quotations are in support of parallelism in Indian poetry.
page 1282 note 3 Original recently acquired by Craigie House. Text supplied by Mr. H. W. L. Dana.
page 1282 note 4 “Pipe-bearer.”
page 1283 note 1 Paper lamp-lighter; here, doubtless, a bank-check.
page 1283 note 2 Compare Note 2, p. 1280.
page 1283 note 3 Hiawatha, vi.
page 1284 note 1 Compare Note 3, p. 1282.
page 1284 note 2 The Complications of an Accident: (title of a comedy by Calderón).
page 1284 note 3 Compare Note 2, p. 1280.
page 1285 note 1 “Perfumed with incense, and bathed in the water of the angels;” from Guzmán de Alfarache, picaresque novel by Mateo Alemán.
page 1285 note 2 Compare Note 2. p. 1280.
page 1286 note 1 Compare Note 2, p. 1280.
page 1287 note 1 Wrongly printed for (August Rudolf) Nielo, of Brunswick. His Balladen und Lieder von Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Münster, 1857) was sent to the poet on July 7, 1857, with a letter asking for an explanation of certain obscure allusions.
page 1287 note 2 Julius Rodenberg (1831–1914). Later, the gifted editor of the Deutsche Rundschau.
page 1287 note 3 Prof. Francis J. Child (1825–1896) of Harvard, editor of English and Scottish Popular Ballads.
page 1287 note 4 The trifler in Hiawatha.
page 1287 note 5 Elise, Baronin von Hohenhausen, corresponded with L. concerning her translation, Die Goldene Legende, in 1857 and 1867. It was published in Leipzig, 1880.
page 1288 note 1 James T. Fields (1817–1881), the Boston publisher.
page 1288 note 2 Mon(c)k's body lay forgotten for some four months before his pompous funeral in Westminster Abbey, April 30, 1670.
page 1288 note 3 A Mr. Post.
page 1288 note 4 On February 13, 1861.
page 1288 note 5 Preceding the Civil War, 1861–1865.
page 1288 note 6 Not preserved.
page 1288 note 7 The tragic death of Mrs. Longfellow occurred on July 10, 1861.
page 1289 note 1 Dr. J. G. Kohl (1808–1878), traveler, geographer; State Librarian of Bremen after 1863. Visited Cambridge in 1857.
page 1289 note 2 Ernest W. Longfellow, the second son, born Nov. 23, 1845.
page 1289 note 3 One of various tactful remittances. Freiligrath's replies have all been destroyed.
page 1290 note 1 In addition, a fund of about 60,000 Taler was given Freiligrath.
page 1290 note 2 See Note 3, p. 1259.
page 1291 note 1 In 1868, Freiligrath made his home at Cannstadt, near Stuttgart.
page 1291 note 2 The death of Freiligrath's son, Otto. See Letter 36.
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