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The Children's Hour
Of all of Longfellow’s beloved poems (and there are many) none is so personal, so sunny, or so touching as this affectionate love letter to his three daughters, “grave Alice, and laughing Allegra, and Edith with the golden hair.”
Longfellow’s happiest hours were spent writing on a cluttered desk by the south window of his beloved Craigie House, an imposing mansion still preserved on Cambridge’s famous Brattle Street. It was here that most of the action takes place (except for his literary reference, and brief excursion, to the “Mouse-Tower on the Rhine”), here that his daughters come creeping down the stairs to beard the gentle, genial poet in his lair.
Lang’s luminous illustrations perfectly capture the happy atmosphere of that house, the author’s affections for his daughters, and the painterly quality of his verse. This book for young readers presents one of the sweetest poems in the English language, her newly illustrated, beautifully presented, and now available to a new generation of readers.
Longfellow’s happiest hours were spent writing on a cluttered desk by the south window of his beloved Craigie House, an imposing mansion still preserved on Cambridge’s famous Brattle Street. It was here that most of the action takes place (except for his literary reference, and brief excursion, to the “Mouse-Tower on the Rhine”), here that his daughters come creeping down the stairs to beard the gentle, genial poet in his lair.
Lang’s luminous illustrations perfectly capture the happy atmosphere of that house, the author’s affections for his daughters, and the painterly quality of his verse. This book for young readers presents one of the sweetest poems in the English language, her newly illustrated, beautifully presented, and now available to a new generation of readers.
- GenresPoetryPicture Books
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1860
About the author
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
2,939 books739 followersAn extremely popular American poet in his own lifetime, Longfellow's best-known works include
The Song of Hiawatha
(1855), a translation of the
Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri, done in 1864-67, Paul Revere's Ride and Evangeline. He's one of the New England poets now typically referred to as the Fireside Poets.
Longfellow graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825, and after studying in Europe for several years subsequently became Bowdoin's professor of modern languages and librarian. After further study in Europe, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to become professor of modern languages at Harvard in 1836. Meanwhile, Mary Potter Longfellow, his first wife, had died in 1835, following a miscarriage.
His first published collections of poetry were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841). In 1854, he retired from teaching to focus on his writing. His second wife, Frances Appleton Longfellow, died in 1861 of burns sustained when her dress caught fire. After her death, for some time Longfellow had difficulty writing original poetry, and focused on translations from foreign languages.
Longfellow wrote lyric poetry noted for its musicality, and often presented stories of mythology and legend. He frequently imitated European poetic styles (and his work was popular in Europe in his day, as well as in the U.S.). As a Romantic poet, he seeks primarily to express and to evoke emotion in his poetry.
Longfellow graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825, and after studying in Europe for several years subsequently became Bowdoin's professor of modern languages and librarian. After further study in Europe, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to become professor of modern languages at Harvard in 1836. Meanwhile, Mary Potter Longfellow, his first wife, had died in 1835, following a miscarriage.
His first published collections of poetry were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841). In 1854, he retired from teaching to focus on his writing. His second wife, Frances Appleton Longfellow, died in 1861 of burns sustained when her dress caught fire. After her death, for some time Longfellow had difficulty writing original poetry, and focused on translations from foreign languages.
Longfellow wrote lyric poetry noted for its musicality, and often presented stories of mythology and legend. He frequently imitated European poetic styles (and his work was popular in Europe in his day, as well as in the U.S.). As a Romantic poet, he seeks primarily to express and to evoke emotion in his poetry.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 21, 2016
I love this poem, and I can't wait to read it to my imaginary grandchildren.
Edit: As of August 2016, I no longer have to plan for imaginary grandchildren, as I've been blessed with a granddaughter of Amazonian proportions (90th percentile for height!). So far, she prefers rocking to reading, but it won't be long before I share good books with her.
Edit: As of August 2016, I no longer have to plan for imaginary grandchildren, as I've been blessed with a granddaughter of Amazonian proportions (90th percentile for height!). So far, she prefers rocking to reading, but it won't be long before I share good books with her.
July 8, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
Another poem which didn’t work for me and maybe poems aren’t for everyone because the more poems I read the more poems I hate. It might be because I am very picky of what I like.
The plot here is very boring and uninteresting. Reading this poem felt like torture and really am glad that it was short
The writing style here was super bad as well and it really made this poem to a torture of reading it.
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
Another poem which didn’t work for me and maybe poems aren’t for everyone because the more poems I read the more poems I hate. It might be because I am very picky of what I like.
The plot here is very boring and uninteresting. Reading this poem felt like torture and really am glad that it was short
The writing style here was super bad as well and it really made this poem to a torture of reading it.
August 17, 2017
Read for poetry during morning time..krb 8/16/17
July 12, 2021
I love this Longfellow poem so it was fun to find a book that illustrated it. I couldn't quite decide if I liked the illustrations are not, but they began to grow on me.
July 17, 2025
Published for the first time in the September 1860 edition of The Atlantic Monthly, this poem is about the author's life with his three young daughters, Alice, Edith, and Anne Allegra "grave Alice, and laughing Allegra, and Edith with golden hair."
He loves them, the girls are sweet, polite and obedient, so we have a happy family, as in these verses below.
"They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!"
He loves them, the girls are sweet, polite and obedient, so we have a happy family, as in these verses below.
"They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!"
September 17, 2008
This is a lovely poem with great illustrations. I like how the imagery is peaceful and the language flows together. The illustrator uses the Longfellow Houses in Cambridge, Ma in her illustrations which makes the work much more personal.
October 17, 2009
This book sent me on an interesting search. Learned a little about Mr. Longfellow and I found out about the story of the mouse tower , and The Nuremburg Chronicle (1493). Interesting stuff----an English version of the N.C. sits in the Phila. Free library
April 30, 2013
This was an interesting find. I am happy I found it. More appropriate poetry for children in 3rd grade or higher.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews