The strongest claim to the high regard in which Longfellow's poems are held is based on the very qualities that endear him to his child- readers. All his life, even in the midst of affliction and sorrow, he was governed by true, deep kindness for all living things, and by a spirit of helpfulness that is the most beautiful thing expressed in his poetry. Then, too, he was willing always to write simply, that all might be benefited by his pure, high thinking. So consistently and with such power did he put into practice the religion of good will and service to others that his life seems to have been a realization of the desire expressed in Wordsworth's lines: "And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety." Some of Longfellow's poems that children like most are named in the following paragraphs: Perhaps the most interesting for the youngest readers are _Paul Revere's Ride_ and _The Wreck of the Hesperus; The Children's Hour_, in which the poet tells of the daily play-time with his little girls; and _The Village Blacksmith_, together with the verses _From My Arm-Chair_, written when the children gave the chair made from the chestnut tree that had once shaded the Village Blacksmith. Story-telling poems that children of from ten to twelve years of age can enjoy are: _The Happiest Land_, _The Luck of Edenhall_, _The Elected Knight_, _Excelsior_, _The Phantom Ship_, _The Discoverer of the North Cape_, _The Bell of Atri_, _The Three Kings_, _The Emperor's Bird's Nest_ and _The Maiden and the Weathercock_. _The Windmill_ and the translation _Beware_ are especially lively, little poems; and _The Arrow and the Song_ and _Children_ are quite as cheerful though quieter. More serious is _The Day Is Done_, well liked for the restful melody; _The Old Clock on the Stairs_, with its curious refrain; and the famous _Psalm of Life_, the lesson of which has helped many a young boy and girl. Among the story-poems for children older than twelve years are Longfellow's greatest works, _Evangeline_, _Hiawatha_ and _The Courtship of Miles Standish_; and the minor poems, _Elizabeth_, _The Beleaguered City_ and _The Building of the Ship_. Nature poems that appeal to readers of this age are the _Hymn to the Night_, _The Rainy Day_, _The Evening Star_, _A Day of Sunshine_, _The Brook and the Wave_, _Rain in Summer_, and _Wanderer's Night Songs_. Children who are fond of imagining will enjoy _The Belfry of Bruges_ and _Travels by the Fireside_, and those who like song-poems may select _The Bridge_ or _Stay, Stay at Home, My Heart_. Nearly all of the poems that have been named are found in collections of Longfellow's works under the titles of the volumes in which they were originally published. _A Psalm of Life_, for example, is one of the group entitled _Voices of the Night_; and _Paul Revere's Ride_ is one of the _Tales of a Wayside Inn_. [Illustration: HER GENTLE HAND IN MINE] FOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS _By_ HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW