“Mr. President and Gentlemen,—Being more accustomed to speak with the pen than with the tongue, it is somewhat difficult for me to find appropriate words now to thank you for the honor you have done me, and the very kind expressions you have used. Coming here as a stranger, this welcome makes me feel that I am not a stranger; for how can a man be a stranger 220 in a country where he finds all doors and all hearts open to him? Besides, I myself am a Cumberland man,—I was born in the County of Cumberland, in the State of Maine, three thousand miles from here,—and you all know that the familiar name of a town or country has a homelike sound to our ears.... You can think then how very grateful it is to me—how very pleasant—to find my name has a place in your memories and your affections. For this kindness I most heartily3 thank you, and I reciprocate4 all the good wishes which you have expressed for perpetual peace and amity5 between our two nations.”[86]
He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws at Cambridge, and the scene was thus described by a London reporter:—
“Amid a score or so of Heads of Houses and other Academic dignitaries conspicuous6 by their scarlet7 robes, the one on whom all eyes were turned was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The face was one which would have caught the spectator’s glance, even if not called to it by the cheers which greeted his appearance in the red robes of an LL. D. Long, white, silken hair and a beard of patriarchal whiteness enclosed a fresh-colored countenance8, with fine-cut features and deep-sunken eyes, overshadowed by massive eyebrows9. 221 In a few well-rounded Latin sentences, Mr. Clark, the Public Orator10, recited the claims of the distinguished11 visitor to the privilege of an honorary degree. The names of Hiawatha and Evangeline sounded strangely amid the sonorous12 periods.”[87]
Another journalist wrote that the orator “drew a picture of the function of poetry to solace13 the ills of life and draw men from its low cares ad excelsiora. This point was caught at once by the undergraduates and drew forth14 hearty15 cheering. The degree was then conferred.”[88]
Arriving in London he received a deluge16 of cards and invitations; visited Windsor by invitation of the Queen, and was received in one of the galleries of the castle; called by request upon the Prince of Wales; and was entertained at dinner by Mr. Bierstadt, the landscape painter, who had several hundred people to meet him. Mr. Longfellow had stipulated17 that there should be no speeches, but after dinner there were loud calls for Mr. Gladstone, who said in reply, according to the reporters, that “they must be permitted to break through the restrictions18 which the authority of their respected host had imposed upon them, and to give expression to the feelings which one and all entertained on 222 this occasion. After all, it was simply impossible to sit at the social board with a man of Mr. Longfellow’s world-wide fame, without offering him some tribute of their admiration19. There was perhaps no class of persons less fitted to do justice to an occasion of this character than those who were destined20 to tread the toilsome and dusty road of politics. Nevertheless, he was glad to render his tribute of hearty admiration to one whom they were glad to welcome not only as a poet but as a citizen of America.”[89]
Mr. Longfellow replied that “they had taken him by surprise, a traveller just landed and with Bradshaw still undigested upon his brain, and they would not expect him to make a speech. There were times, indeed, when it was easier to speak than to act; but it was not so with him, now. He would, however, be strangely constituted if he did not in his heart respond to their kind and generous welcome. In the longest speech he could make, he could but say in many phrases what he now said in a few sincere words,—that he was deeply grateful for the kindness which had been shown him.”[90]
After visiting the House of Lords with Mr. R. C. Winthrop, on one occasion, he was accosted21 by a laboring22 man in the street, who asked permission to speak with him, and recited a verse 223 of “Excelsior,” before which the poet promptly23 retreated. Passing to the continent, the party visited Switzerland, crossed by the St. Gothard Pass to Italy, and reached Cadenabbia, on the Lake of Como. They returned to Paris in the autumn; then went to Italy again, staying at Florence and Rome, where they saw the Abbé Liszt and obtained that charming sketch24 of him by Healy, in which the great musician is seen opening the inner door and bearing a candle in his hand. In the spring they visited Naples, Venice, and Innsbruck, returning then to England, where Longfellow received the degree of D. C. L. at Oxford25; and they then visited Devonshire, Edinburgh, and the Scottish lakes. He again received numberless invitations in London, and wrote to Lowell, “It is only by dint26 of great resolution that I escaped a dozen public and semi-public dinners.” At the very last moment before sailing, he received a note from Mr. E. J. Reed, the chief constructor to the British Navy, who pronounced his poem “The Building of the Ship” to be the finest poem on shipbuilding that ever was or ever would be written. He reached home September 1, 1869. In his letters during this period, one sees the serene27 head of a family, the absolutely unspoiled recipient28 of praise, but not now the eager and enthusiastic young pilgrim of romance. Yet he 224 writes to his friend Ferguson that if he “said his say” about York Cathedral, his friends would think him sixteen instead of sixty; and again tells his publisher Fields that he enjoys Lugano—never before visited—to the utmost, but that “the old familiar place saddened” him.[91] Many a traveller has had in later life the same experience.
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1
goblet
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| n.高脚酒杯 | |
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ballad
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| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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reciprocate
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| v.往复运动；互换；回报，酬答 | |
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amity
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| n.友好关系 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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12
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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13
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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stipulated
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| vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的 | |
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restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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accosted
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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