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(More customer reviews)J.D. McClatchy here presents a thoughtful selection of Longfellow's verse. Although ignored by contemporary readers and dismissed by the academy, Longfellow is a wrtier who, though never profound, is sincere, engaging, accessible, and humble--qualities rarely associated with modern poetry. It is difficult to read such saccarhine classics as "The Children's Hour" and "A Psalm of Life" without either shrivelling from the sweetness or retreating into a shallow camp perspective, but for the reader willing to make the effort, Longfellow offers the deep rewards of meter, rhyme, and narrative--and the rare pleasure of lines that do not dazzle or daunt by ambiguity. As the poet writes, "Such songs have power to quiet / The restless pulse of care, / And come like the benediction / That follows after prayer."
One's only regret with this volume (a criticism one might make, I suppose, of any selection) is that McClatchy did not include more--specifically, the complete "Tales of a Wayside Inn," which, though represented rather amply, surely should have been included in its entirety as the happiest vehicle for Longfellow's story-based strengths. "The Bell of Atri," one of the most charming of the tales, should certainly be here. Then, too, the editor seems rather determined in his selection to present a more somber presentation of the poet than is warrented by his full corpus. (Perhaps he aims to make Longfellow more attractive to an audience accustomed to the confessional and the dour.) Oh, well. In compensation we do get useful notes, an excellent chronology, and the delightful novella "Kavanagh"--all of which make this surely the most pleasant poetry revival of the past several years.
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