JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER [Illustration: JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER _From a miniature by Porter about 1838_ ] JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE BY BLISS PERRY WITH SELECTED POEMS [Illustration] BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY MDCCCCVII COPYRIGHT 1907 BY BLISS PERRY AND HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED _Published November 1907_ NOTE _The occasion for this little volume is the celebration of the centenary of Whittier’s birth. The sketch of his life aims to present the chief formative influences which affected his career and determined the character of his poetry. The poems have been chosen with the intention of illustrating, first, the circumstances of Whittier’s boyhood and the themes to which his poetic imagination naturally turned, then the political and social struggle which engrossed so many of his years, and finally that mood of devout resting and waiting in which his long life closed._ CONTENTS JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER: 1 A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE SELECTED POEMS THE BAREFOOT BOY (1855) 37 IN SCHOOL-DAYS (1870) 40 THE WHITTIER FAMILY. (FROM “SNOW-BOUND”) (1866) 42 MY PLAYMATE (1860) 54 TELLING THE BEES (1858) 57 BURNS: ON RECEIVING A SPRIG OF HEATHER IN BLOSSOM (1854) 60 THE SHIP-BUILDERS (1846) 65 SKIPPER IRESON’S RIDE (1857) 68 MAUD MULLER (1854) 72 RANDOLPH OF ROANOKE (1833?) 78 MASSACHUSETTS TO VIRGINIA (1843) 83 THE PINE-TREE (1846) 87 ICHABOD (1850) 89 THE LOST OCCASION (1880) 91 BARBARA FRIETCHIE (1863) 94 LAUS DEO! (1865) 98 ON RECEIVING AN EAGLE’S QUILL FROM LAKE SUPERIOR (1849) 100 MY PSALM (1859) 104 THE ETERNAL GOODNESS (1865) 107 AT LAST (1882) 110 NOTE