LONGFELLOW’S DAY—FEBRUARY 27.
“High as our hearts he stood.”
1. Roll call—Quotations from Longfellow.
2. Let several members who have been appointed beforehand give brief accounts of different periods of the poet’s life, such as: His early life, his years in college, his life as a college professor, his travels abroad, his literary work, his home in the Craigie House, and his love for children.
Music.
3. Recitation—“The Hanging of the Crane.”
4. Select Reading—Extracts from “Outre-Mer.”
Music.
5. Essay—Longfellow’s Characteristics as a Writer.
6. Recitation—“The Poet and the Children.” By John G. Whittier.
7. A Paper—The Tributes to Longfellow by Eminent Men and Women.
8. An analytical study of the poem “Sandalphon.”
A delightful Longfellow entertainment may be arranged from “Evangeline” or “Miles Standish.” The poem chosen should be carefully cut so as not to require more than an hour for reading. Let a good reader be chosen, and as he reads let the most picturesque and striking passages be represented by tableaux.
Help in preparing programs for Longfellow’s Day may be found in the following articles: The Century, June, 1882, “Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,” poem; The Century, October, 1883, “Longfellow;” The Century, November, 1878, “Henry Wadsworth Longfellow;” Allibone’s “Dictionary of Authors;” Griswold, “Poets and Poetry of America;” Duyckinck, “Cyclopædia of American Literature,” vol. ii.; North American Review, January 1840, July 1842, July 1845, and January 1848; Fraser’s Magazine, March 1848; British Quarterly Review for January and April 1864; The Literary World, vol. xii., No. 5; “Homes of American Authors,” by George William Curtis; “American Classics for Schools,” vol. i; “Longfellow Leaflets”—these convenient little slips have been prepared for schools, but will be found very useful for large circles. They may be had of Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, Mass.