ll be understood that none of the impromptu
verses I have given to illustrate his playful moods were intended by
him to be seen outside a small circle of friends and neighbors. This
playfulness, however, was so much a part of his character from boyhood
to old age that I think it deserves some record such as is here given.

For those who are interested to inquire to whom refer passages in such
poems as "Memories," "My Playmate," and "A Sea Dream," I now feel at
liberty to give such information as could not properly be given at the
time when I undertook the biography of the poet.

If any profit shall be derived from the sale of this book, it will be
devoted to the preservation and care of the homes here described, which
will ever be open to such visitors as love the memory of Whittier.

S. T. P.

WHITTIER HOME, AMESBURY, MASS.,
March, 1904.

CONTENTS

PAGE

I. Haverhill 1

II. Amesbury 53

III. Whittier's Sense of Humor 105

IV. Whittier's Uncollected Poems 127

Footnotes 154

Index 155

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER _Frontispiece_
From an Ambrotype taken about 1857.

MAP OF WHITTIER-LAND xii

WHITTIER'S BIRTHPLACE 2
From a photograph by Alfred A. Ordway.

RIVER PATH, NEAR HAVERHILL 5
From a photograph by Ordway.

HAVERHILL ACADEMY 6
From a photograph by G. W. W. Bartlett.

MAIN STREET, HAVERHILL 8
From a photograph by Ordway.

BIRTHPLACE IN WINTER 9
From a photograph by Ordway.

KENOZA LAKE 10
From a photograph by Ordway.

FERNSIDE BROOK, THE STEPPING-STONES 11
From a photograph by Ordway.

THE BIRTHPLACE, FROM THE ROAD 13
From a photograph by Ordway.

"THE HAUNTED BRIDGE OF COUNTRY BROOK" 15
From a photograph by W. L. Bickum.

GARDEN AT BIRTHPLACE 1