Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

[217] we can only say that had his fame rested on those alone, it would have been of quite uncertain tenure. A very few of them, like ‘Keramos,’ ‘Morituri Salutamus,’ and ‘The Herons of Elmwood,’ stand out as exceptions, and above all of these was the exquisite sonnet already printed in this volume, ‘The Cross of Snow,’ recording at last the poet's high water-mark, as was the case with Tennyson's ‘Crossing the Bar.’ Apart from these, it may be truly said that the little volume called ‘Flower de Luce’ was the last collection published by him which recalled his earlier strains. His volume ‘Ultima Thule’ appeared in 1880, and ‘In the Harbor,’ classed as a second part to it, but issued by others after his death. With these might be placed, though not with any precision, the brief tragedy of ‘Judas Maccabaeus,’ which had been published in the ‘Three Books of Song,’ in 1872; and the unfinished fragment, ‘Michael Angelo,’ which was found in his desk after death. None of his dramatic poems showed him to be on firm ground in respect to this department of poesy, nor can they, except the ‘Golden Legend,’ be regarded as altogether successful literary undertakings. It is obvious that historic periods differ wholly in this respect; and all we can say is that while quite mediocre poets were good dramatists in the Elizabethan