Unsigned autograph manuscript for the poem "Robert Burns" by Henry W. Longfellow, one page both sides, 7.5 x 9.5, no date. Longfellow drafts an ode to his fellow poet, beginning: "I see amid the fields of Ayr / A ploughman, who, in foul and fair, / Sings at his task / So clear, we know not if it is / The laverock's song we hear, or his, / Nor care to ask." He makes several amendments to the fourth stanza, striking through several lines to arrive at the published version: "He sings of love, whose flame illumes / The darkness of lone cottage rooms; / He feels the force, / The treacherous under-tow and stress / Of wayward passions, and no less / The keen remorse." The manuscript leaf is handsomely custom-bound into a full leather hardcover book with gilt-stamped titles, along with a presentation leaf signed and inscribed by three of Longfellow's daughters: "For Ian Maclaren, in memory of the pleasant hours in the Glen. Alice M. Longfellow, Edith Longfellow Dana, Annie Longfellow Thorp." In fine condition, with a stray blue ink spot to the poem and presentation leaf. A magnificent literary manuscript, connecting two of the premier Romantic poets of their respective eras.
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