In summer the Longfellow children often went to the seaside with their father and mother. All day long they played in the sand and waded in the water.
But a great and terrible sorrow came suddenly to the Longfellow home. One morning, as Mrs. Longfellow was sealing a package with hot wax, her dress caught fire. Before the flames could be put out she was so badly burned that she died soon after.
Never again was the poet full of joy as he had always been before. For him the happiness of life was over. But he never forgot to provide for the pleasure of his children.
Longfellow has told us about his three daughters in a beautiful poem called "The Children's Hour." He has also written about them in a letter to a little girl which you will be glad to read.
[A LETTER TO A LITTLE GIRL]
| Edith | exactly | merriest | piazza |
| Allegra | memory | encamped | nankeen |
Nahant, August 18, 1859.
Your letter followed me down here by the seaside, where I am passing the summer with my three little girls.
The oldest is about your size; but as little girls keep changing every year I can never remember exactly how old she is, and have to ask her mamma, who has a better memory than I have. Her name is Alice. I never forget that. She is a nice girl and loves poetry almost as much as you do.