A tour of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House offers an intimate look at one of America's most renowned poets.
By TOM AND JOANNE O'TOOLE
Published October 23, 2005
[Photo: AP]
Built about 220 years ago, this home of Longfellow is now a museum.
"Thy fate is the commonest fate of all, into each life some rain must fall."
PORTLAND, Me. - The philosophical musing of an ancient proverb? No, those poetic words of wisdom are from The Rainy Day, penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. During his lifetime, he would become the most-widely read poet int eh English language.
Longfellow wrote The Rainy Day at his desk in the back parlor of his boyhood home, which still stands, as a well-preserved museum.
Snuggled between larger, more modern buildings along Congress Street, this city's main thoroughfare, the late 18th century building has been a National Historic Landmark since 1963. A 21/2-year project of "faithful" restoration and renovation to its 1850s state was completed in 2003.
A narrated tour of it proved time well spent, as grasped a sense of one of America's literary giants.
The two-story home was built by Gen. Peleg Wadsworth, Henry's maternal grandfather and a Revolutionary War hero, in 1785-86. It was the first brick residence in Portland, built with bricks barged from Philadelphia. At the time the home had an unobstructed view of Casco Bay.
The exclusive Wadsworth years lasted until 1807 when Peleg's daughter, Zilpah, and her husband, Stephen Longfellow, moved in. They became parents to Henry (born Feb. 27, 1807) and seven other children.
Between 1807 and 1851 the home was the site for weddings, funerals and social events as well as the day-to-day activities of middle-class life. The structure came to be known as the Wadsworth-Longfellow house.
Stephen was a local lawyer, and to accommodate clients he built a small, one-story addition to the side with a separate entrance. A third story was added around 1815 to the main house. You can still see the slight difference in the exterior brick.
This upper floor has seven bed chambers, but is not open to the public.
Henry was encouraged to follow in his father's footsteps, but he chose not to study law. Instead, he enrolled at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, at the age of 14, and after graduation in 1825 was offered a professorship of modern languages.
The job came with the understanding that he would spend time touring and studying in Europe. He was abroad for three years, and upon his return, at 22, he became a professor.
No textbook existed for the course, so he wrote his own. He spoke English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Swedish, Finnish and Dutch. In 1834 he received an appointment to Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass. After his first, Mary, died in childbirth, he was to marry Frances, and he taught at Harvard until the mid 1850s.
He liked the setting, and died in his adopted town in 1882, at age 75.
According to historian Ben Ray Redmen, "Longfellow knew what he wished to do with his life, and he did it supremely well."
His first published poem appeared in the Portland Gazette in 1820 when he was 13. He was to become the most widely read poet in the English language, while he was alive, and his poems were translated into 20 languages.
He also wrote novels, short stories, plays, works of criticism, and even travel guides. Although his works are many, a few of his classics were Evangeline, The Courtship of Miles Standish and The Song of Hiawatha. As a child, Henry heard tales of events that occurred in America's early history, and he later romanticized them in his poems and books.
His memorable introductory line, Listen my children and you shall hear, from Paul Revere's Ride, still sends a shiver of anticipation up the spine of many who read it.
As we made our way through the small rooms in his boyhood home, we asked about pictures of the handsome young man that adorned the walls. Indeed, it was Henry, but not the one we usually see: We've become familiar with the picture of a bearded old man.
Henry's hands and face were severely burned in 1861 when he rushed to the aid of Frances, who was severely burned when her dress caught fire from a lighted match. She died, and he grew a spreading beard and flowing hair to hide the facial scars.
While Henry and most of the family members left home, his widowed sister Anne Longfellow Pierce decided to stay. She lived here from 1851 until her death in 1901, carefully preserving the contents.
Anne willed the corner property at Congress and Brown and everything in the house to the Maine Historical Society, which is now immediately next door to the house. A research library is located directly behind the house, and separating the two buildings is a small plot of land that was the original family garden.
Even though the house dates back three generations, it has been restored and is furnished basically as Anne left it. Many possessions were handed down, and two of Henry's favorite writing desks remain.
A number of touches give the house a lived-in feeling, with personal items set out on chairs and tables.
Silhouettes, pictures and paintings are those once enjoyed by the families. Over the fireplace in the front sitting room is an engraving of George Washington - common in homes of the period, as the first president was much revered.
About 15,000 visitors a year go through the Wadsworth-Longfellow home, one of Maine's earliest museums centered in private homes. It is considered one of New England's most significant historical and literary landmarks.
Enthusiasts should also walk five blocks up Congress Street to Longfellow Square, where a statue of the great poet sitting in a comfortable chair was erected in 1888. It is a city monument, whose funds to build it were collected from schoolchildren across the country.
- Tom and Joanne O'Toole are freelance writers who live in northeast Ohio.
IF YOU GO
For literature and background on the famous poet and the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, contact the Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress St., Portland, ME 04101. Call 207 774-1822 or visit www.mainehistory.org It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday from May 1 through the end of October. The home is also open weekends in November and every day in December except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and students and $3 for children. Brochures and information on Portland and the surrounding area are free through the Visitors Bureau of Greater Portland, 245 Commercial St., Portland, ME 04101-4606. Call (207) 772-5800 or visit www.visitportland.com
