Hiawatha
was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
an American poet whose epic works include
Evangeline and Paul Revere’s Ride.
Henry’s mother introduced him to Robinson Crusoe
and Don Quixote at an early age, never realizing that
her choices were informing the literary taste of
a future American icon whose poetry would be
heralded for its mythology and musicality.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
became the most popular American poet of his day.
Aging, Contentment and Play
were tumbling in the wizard’s mind today.
Longfellow likewise contemplated aging
in a poem he delivered in 1875 at the
50-Year reunion of his classmates.
What then? Shall we sit idly down and say
“The night hath come; it is no longer day?”
The night hath not yet come; we are not quite
Cut off from labor by the failing light;
Something remains for us to do or dare;
Even the oldest tree some fruit may bear…
For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress,
And as the evening twilight fades away
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.