ed it in
his own land. The grandeur of the world of antique art preserved in the
museums, the works of living artists whose names were famous, the
magnificence of the cathedrals and palaces, the thousand memories
clustered around the old historic towns and cities, the picturesque
details of peasant life, the gay student life which was so unlike that
of the American youth that it seemed a different world, all struck
Longfellow with a new and pleasant feeling of richness, as if the world
had suddenly become wider, and full of stores of unsuspected wealth. One
of Longfellow's great pleasures while on this trip was the meeting with
Irving in Spain, where the latter was busy with his _Life of Columbus_.

The vividness of his impressions of European life was seen upon all his
work, and was perhaps the first reflection of the old poetic European
influence that began to be felt in much American poetry, where the charm
of old peasant love songs and roundelays, heard for centuries among the
lower classes of Spain, France, and Italy, was wrought into translation
and transcription so perfect and spirited that they may almost rank with
original work.

Longfellow returned to America after three years' absence, and at once
began his duties at Bowdoin College, remaining three years, when he left
to take a Professorship at Harvard, which he had accepted with the
understanding that he was to spend a year and a half abroad before
commencing his work. Two years after his return he published his first
volume of poems, and his romance _Hyperion_. In _Hyperion_, Longfellow
relates some of the experiences of his own travels under the guise of
the hero, who wanders through Europe, and the book is full of the same
biographical charm that belongs to _Outre Mer_. Here the student life of
the German youths, the songs they sang, the books they read, and even
their favorite foods are noted, while the many translations of German
poetry opened a new field of delight to American readers. It was well
received by the public, who appreciated its fine poetic fancy and its
wealth of serious thought. But it was not by his prose that Longfellow
touched the deepest sympathies of his readers, and the publication of
his first volume of poetry a few months later showed his real position
in the world of American letters. This little book, which was issued
under the title _Voices of the Night_, consisted of the poems that had
so far appeared in the various magazine