Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, (1807–1882) the most popular poet of his day, helped shape America’s national character with works such as Paul Revere’s Ride, The Song of Hiawatha, The Village Blacksmith, and The Wreck of the Hesperus. After his wife Frances died from burns sustained after her dress caught fire, he was too devastated to write poetry and instead concentrated on translation; he was the first American to translate Dante’s Divine Comedy. In his eulogy for his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson characterized Longfellow as “a sweet and beautiful soul.”

Holidays

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The holiest of all holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart,
When the full river of feeling overflows;—
The happy days unclouded to their close;
The sudden joys that out of darkness start
As flames from ashes; swift desires that dart
Like swallows singing down each wind that blows!

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