So what can I say about Longfellow that hasn't been said better by others? That he is one of America's best loved poets? That he is the maker of some America's most enduring myths? That he has provided delightful reading for almost ten generations of Americans? That the joy of reading Longfellow has been replaced today for most of America's youth by video games, and that no one knows what the long term consequences of this will be to American culture?

Pardon me, but I am getting old, and I can't help feeling a bit sad that the young people of today are rarely exposed to "The Song of Hiawatha," or "Evangeline," or to the simple enjoyment of reading "Paul Revere's Ride," "The Day is Done," "The Village Blacksmith," or this week's offering, one of my favorite Longfellow poems, "Nature." I truly hope you will enjoy this poem as much as I have over the years. He was one of the great ones.