Santa Filomena
Illustrations by Miki Lowe
One way to gain insight into someone’s psyche is to read what they wrote when they were 13. For Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, that’s his very first published poem, “The Battle of Lovell’s Pond,” which recognizes fallen soldiers whose “names are engraven on honor’s bright crest.” Humbly signed with just “Henry,” the poem foreshadows the sentimental but unambiguous morality for which Longfellow would become known.