John Greenleaf Whittier. Works. Riverside Edition. 7 vols. (I–IV, Poetical works; V–VII, Prose.) Standard Library Edition. 9 vols. (Includes content of the Riverside Edition plus the life by S. T. Pickard.) 1892. The best one-volume edition of the poems is the Cambridge Student’s Edition. 1914. His works appeared in book form originally as follows: Legends of New England, 1831; Moll Pitcher, 1832; Justice and Expediency, 1833; Mogg Megone, 1836; Poems written between 1830 and 1838, 1837; Ballads, Anti-Slavery Poems, etc., 1838; Lays of my Home, 1843; The Stranger in Lowell, 1845; Supernaturalism in New England, 1847; Voices of Freedom, 1849; Old Portraits and Modern Sketches, 1850; Songs of Labor, 1850; The Chapel of the Hermits, 1853; Literary Recreations and Miscellanies, 1854; The Panorama, 1856; Home Ballads, 1860; In War Time, 1863; National Lyrics, 1865; Snow-Bound, 1866; The Tent on the Beach, 1867; Among the Hills, 1868; Miriam, 1870; The Pennsylvania Pilgrim, 1872; Hazel Blossoms, 1874; Centennial Hymn, 1876; The Vision of Echard, 1878; The King’s Missive, 1881; The Bay of Seven Islands, 1883; Saint Gregory’s Guest, 1886; At Sundown, 1892.

Bibliography

Cambridge History of American Literature, Vol. II, pp. 436–451.

Biography and Criticism

The standard life is by Samuel T. Pickard. 1894. 2 vols.

Burton, Richard. John Greenleaf Whittier. 1901.

Carpenter, G. R. John Greenleaf Whittier. 1903. (A. M. L. Ser.)

Claflin, Mrs. Mary B. Personal Recollections of John Greenleaf Whittier. 1893.

Fields, Mrs. Annie. Authors and Friends. 1896.

Flower, B. O. Whittier, Prophet, Seer and Man. 1896.

Hawkins, C. J. The Mind of Whittier. 1904.

Higginson, T. W. Cheerful Yesterdays.

Higginson, T. W. Contemporaries.

Higginson, T. W. John Greenleaf Whittier. 1902. (E. M. L. Ser.)

Kennedy, W. S. John Greenleaf Whittier, his Life, Genius and Writings. 1882.

Lawton, W. C. Studies in the New England Poets. 1898.

Linton, W. J. Life of John Greenleaf Whittier. 1903.

Payne, W. M. Cambridge History of American Literature, Vol. II, Bk. II, chap. xiii.

Pickard, S. T. Whittier Land. 1904.

Richardson, C. F. American Literature, Vol. II, chap. vi.

Stedman, E. C. Poets of America. 1885.

Taylor, Bayard. Critical Essays and Literary Notes. 1880.

Underwood, F. H. John Greenleaf Whittier: a Biography. 1884.

Wendell, Barrett. Stelligeri and Other Essays. 1893.

Whitman, Walt. Specimen Days. April 16, 1881.

TOPICS AND PROBLEMS

Read the poems in Whittier the titles of which suggest local treatment of Essex County life and scenes. Compare these with similar poems in Burns.

Read such poems as “First-Day Thoughts,” “Skipper Ireson’s Ride,” “The Garrison of Cape Ann,” “The Waiting,” “The Eternal Goodness,” and “Our Master” for evidences of Whittier’s religion.

Read Emerson’s essay on “The New England Reformers,” remembering that Whittier was one of these.

Compare the war poetry of Whittier and Freneau.

In Whittier’s controversial poetry note the different levels of “Barbara Frietchie,” “Expostulation,” and “The Waiting,” and cite other poems which may fairly be located in these three classes.

Read Whittier’s ballads with the comments on page 261 concerning his inclination to expound. Compare and contrast Whittier’s “Snow-Bound” with Burns’s “Cotter’s Saturday Night.”

Apply the tests for popular fireside poetry to those poems of Whittier’s which you regard as general favorites.