Chapter Thirty-Four
Though there may not have been medical merit to the Water Cure, it did seem to be effective for Henry, restoring his health and equilibrium of mind. He returned to Cambridge in the fall of 1842 believing that he had finally overcome the hold Fanny had on him as well as accepting that he was not just a writer but a poet. He was also able to deepen his friendship with Charles Dickens while in London, and he made a dear friend in Ferdinand Freiligrath, who had great influence on the works that followed. He was inspired at this time to write the sonnet “Mezzo Cammin,” included in this chapter, but which Henry considered too personal to publish in his lifetime.
On the sea voyage back to Boston, he wrote his first antislavery poems, a daring prospect at the time and one that began to shape his future in numerous ways. It was published as a thin volume entitled Poems on Slavery in December of that year.
All in all, the Water Cure seemed to be a turning point for Henry, and he left his darkest days behind him, though he would never be completely free of his depressive episodes.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The scene of Fanny recreating “The Bridge” is fictional; there is no indication that particular poem had any special meaning to her. That she spent the year of 1842 rereading Henry’s works and changing her heart is also of my creation.
We do know from her journals that 1842 was a year of spiritual awakening, and she seemed to mature a great deal. She was lonely without her siblings and friends around her, and she continued to read and study a great deal, which likely led her to a softened heart—especially in regard to Henry.
Chapters Thirty-Six and Thirty-Seven
On April 10, 1843, Henry and Fanny attended a party at the home of a mutual friend, Andrew Norton. We do not know the details of their interaction at this event other than Fanny was more attentive to Henry than she had been in the past, and Henry felt encouraged to renew his attentions toward her, which he did.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
On May 10, Fanny wrote a letter to Henry, in response to one of his own, where she confirmed her love for him and essentially accepted his proposal. Henry was so energized by her pronouncement that he walked from his house on Brattle Street in Cambridge to Beacon Hill—approximately a ninety-minute walk. His path led him over the West Boston Bridge, featured in his poem “The Bridge.” It was rebuilt in 1906 and renamed “The Longfellow Bridge” in 1927, in commemoration of Henry’s walk to Fanny Appleton.
For the rest of his life, Henry would reverence May 10 as his “Personal Easter”—a day in which redemption came in the form of the woman he loved giving him her heart. Finally.
Timeline
July 1836: Henry meets the Appleton family in Thun, Switzerland, and spends nearly three weeks with them.
Fall 1837: Henry begins his attempts to court Fanny, proposes marriage, and is refused.
January 1839: Mr. Appleton marries Harriet Coffin Sumner, a woman twenty-two years his junior.
Summer 1839: Hyperion is published.
December 1839: Voices of Night is published. Molly marries Robert Mackintosh on December 26.
1841: Ballads and Other Poems is published.
April–September 1842: Henry takes his third European tour, including the Water Cure in Germany.
December 1842: Poems on Slavery is published.
April 1843: Henry attends the Nortons’ party and is received more warmly by Fanny.
May 10, 1843: Fanny sends Henry her letter requesting that he formally renew his attentions to her. Henry walks from Cambridge to accept the offer.
May 1843: The Spanish Student is published.
July 13, 1843: Henry and Fanny marry in the drawing room of 39 Beacon Street.
Fall/Winter 1843: Nathan Appleton purchases Craigie House and the acreage between it and the Charles River as a wedding present for Henry and Fanny.
June 9, 1844: Charles Appleton is born. Poets and Poetry of England is published.
1845: Ernest Wadsworth is born. The Belfry of Brugs and Other Poems is published. Poems is published.
1846: The Waif is published. The Estray is published.
1847: Frances is born. Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie is published.
1848: Frances dies.
1849: The Seaside and the Fireside is published.
1850: Alice Mary is born.
1851: Kavanagh is published. The Golden Legend is published.
1853: Edith is born with the help of ether for sedation.
1854: Henry retires from Harvard College, becomes America’s first professional poet.
1855: Anne Allegra is born. The Song of Hiawatha is published.
1858: The Courtship of Miles Standish and Other Poems is published.
1860: Paul Revere’s Ride is published in The Atlantic magazine.
July 9, 1861: Fanny’s dress catches fire. She dies the next day as a result of her injuries.
July 13, 1861: Fanny is buried on the couple’s eighteenth wedding anniversary.
July 14, 1861: Nathan Appleton, who was too ill to attend Fanny’s funeral, dies at his home on Beacon Hill.
1863: Part one of Tales of a Wayside Inn is published. Henry writes “Christmas Bells” on Christmas Day.
1865: “The Dante Club” is formally organized to assist in Longfellow’s ongoing translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Household Poems is published. “Christmas Bells” is published in Our Young Folks magazine.
1866: Poetical Works is published.
1867: English translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy is published, entitled The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.
1868: The New England Tragedies is published. Henry takes his children, daughter-in-law, Tom Appleton, two of Henry’s sisters, and former governess on an European tour.
1870: Part two of Tales of a Wayside Inn is published.
1871: The Divine Tragedy is published.
1872: Three Books of Song is published. John Baptiste Calkin first puts “Christmas Bells” to music, beginning the legacy of the now-popular Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”
1873: Aftermath is published. The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is published.
1874: “The Hanging of the Crane” is sold to a New York magazine for $4,000, the highest amount ever paid for any poem to date.
1875: The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems is published.
1876: Poems of Places is published.
1878: Keramos and Other Poems is published.
1880: Ultima Thule is published.
1879: Henry writes The Cross of Snow in tribute to Fanny. It is not published until after his death.
1882: In the Harbor is published.
March 24, 1882: Henry dies at Craigie House in the same room and in the same bed where Fanny had died twenty-one years earlier.
March 26, 1882: Henry is buried at Mount Auburn cemetery alongside his two wives and his daughter, Fanny.
1883: Michael Angelo: A Fragment is published.
Bibliography
Calhoun, Charles C. Longfellow. Boston Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 2004.
Irmscher, Christoph. Public Poet, Private Man; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at 200. Boston Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press in Cooperation with the Houghton Library, Harvard University, 2009.
Tharp, Louise Hall. The Appletons of Beacon Hill. Little Brown and Company—Boston-Toronto, 1973.
Wagenknecht, Edward, editor. Mrs. Longfellow: Selected Letters and Journals of Fanny Appleton Longfellow 1817–1861. London, England: Peter Owen Limited, 1959.
Discussion Questions
Prior to reading this book, were you familiar with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, his poetry, or his courtship of Fanny Appleton? If so, were there things about their story that surprised you? If not, what elements of their story touched you the most?
Have you ever traveled to Boston or Cambridge? What are your impressions of those two locations? If you could travel to any European country, which one wou
ld it be and why?
How do you feel about Henry having sent the body of his first wife, Mary Potter, back to Boston unattended after her death? Should he have ended his Grand Tour early to tend to his family?
In America, many colleges and universities require two years of foreign language training. How does that factor into Henry’s feelings regarding the teaching of language? Do you feel that learning another language is worthwhile? Do you speak a foreign language?
Do you enjoy poetry? What is your favorite poem or poet? Do you feel that poetry—as opposed to prose—is more successful in touching our hearts and minds?
Fanny undergoes a substantial change of heart regarding her feelings for Henry. Have you experienced or seen a similar change in modern relationships? What, in your opinion, might change someone’s mind regarding how they feel about a person?
Henry and Fanny’s seven-year courtship is certainly unusual by today’s standards, where the average courtship lasts between two to three years. The Longfellows went on to have six children and enjoyed nearly twenty years of a very happy marriage. Do you think that a longer courtship can result in a happier union?
Fanny embarks upon a spiritual journey to find God’s path for her. Have you had a time in your life when you have undertaken a similar pursuit? What motivated you to do so, and what was the result?
Was there a particular scene or sentiment expressed in this book that stood out to you? Why?
At the time this story takes place, men tended to form very deep friendships that in today’s culture might almost seem romantic. Henry maintained many of these close friendships throughout his life. What do you think has changed in our culture regarding male friendship? Or has it?
Acknowledgments
In December 2014, Heidi Taylor and Lisa Mangum from Shadow Mountain asked if I would be willing to write a different kind of love story. They wanted a historical romance novel based on a real person—preferably a literary figure. It was an exciting prospect for me, and we talked about their expectations. I told them that my biggest concern was that I’m not a “literary” writer. I have read exactly one Jane Austen novel—though I watch the movies over and over—and I relied on CliffsNotes to get through my high school English classes. I doubted I could answer the $200 question in a “Literature” category on Jeopardy. Still, they were sure I was the right choice.
I spent weeks trying to find a person who was well-known and had a beautiful love story. It was a much harder prospect than I expected it would be, but then I discovered the amazing seven-year courtship story of Henry Longfellow and Fanny Appleton. The research was intimidating and trying to recreate these people authentically was overwhelming at times. Two things proved very helpful. First, I was able to visit Boston and Cambridge with my daughter, Madison, and my good friend Jennifer Moore—the trip made a huge difference. Second, Henry was mindful of his legacy while he was alive and preserved a lot of information. By the end of this project I was absolutely in love with Henry and Fanny, and I am humbled to have had this chance to try to bring them to life.
Thank you to Heidi and Lisa, who gave me this invitation and then made the final version prettier than I could ever do on my own. Big thanks to Jennifer and Madison for traveling with me to Boston and letting me geek out over the history there. Jennifer also read through the finished manuscript on a very short timeline.
Thank you to my writing group: Nancy Allen (My Fair Gentleman, Shadow Mountain 2016), Becky Clayson, Jody Durfee (Hadley Hadley Bensen, Covenant 2013), and Ronda Hinrichsen (Simply Anna, Covenant 2015).
Big thanks for the readers who have followed me into a new genre—historical romance—and who have been so kind and encouraging.
This book also marked a change in our family dynamics: my husband, Lee, moved his office home so that I could write nearly full-time while he took on more responsibility at the home front. I don’t know how I could have written this without being able to immerse myself into the project. I thank him with every breat>h in me for all the support and sacrifice he gives me. Thanks to my kids for their continued support as well, and for my Heavenly Father, who has put so many opportunities in my path.
About the Author
Josi is the author of twenty-five novels, one cookbook, and a participant in several co-authored projects and anthologies. She is a two-time Whitney award winner—Sheep’s Clothing (2007) and Wedding Cake (2014)—and the Utah Best in State winner for fiction in 2012. She and her husband, Lee, are the parents of four children. You can find more information about Josi and her writing at josiskilpack.com.
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