File:Frances (Appleton) Longfellow to Anne Longfellow Pierce, May 9 1845 (921683b8-354b-4883-8c61-cd00091cff56).jpg

Manuscript letter

Archives Number: 1011/002.001-015#009

Cambridge. May 9th 1845.
Dear Annie
Yesterday, in thrusting his hand to the bottom of a pocket, in a coat not worn for some days, Henry made the pleasant discovery of your letter, lying perdu there with another, both with unbroken seals. How, or when, the got there he cannot remember, nor can he account for such strange oversight – His best excuse must be that his thoughts were in Dream-land, ‘a-chasing the shadowy deer of fancy, & that he ascended the Post Office steps mechanically & unconsciously. I was on the point of writing, before this appeared, to inform you that another steamer has arrived without my sister, by which she announces that her passage is taken for the 19th of May – she will therefore arrive the first of June. Thinking you might not care to delay your visit here so long, & would be glad to secure a little foretaste of Spring, although ours is backward enough, & that Mother might be persuaded to accompany you & see us in blossom, I now urge you to come as soon as you like. Do not let your cousin Sophia’s visit be any obstacle, for I should be delighted to see her likewise, if she & you would have no objection to share one bed. I really believe the change would bene- [p. 2] fit Mother very much just now, for many of our days are very warm, though I am writing at present before a brisk fire, and she would enjoy driving about our pretty lanes while the grass is so freshly green & the trees are so fragrant. Sam & I have not ventured yet to plant our seeds, therefore you shall [crossed out: benefit] aid us with your experience & taste – a garden plot designed by Henry is just getting into shape, & I think will look very prettily when gay with flowers. The other day we planted, in state, several rare trees – a few inches in height! I placed into the ground a Cedar of Lebanon, under the shadow of whose branches, however, I fear I shall never repose, - while Charlie grasped in his small fist a Pine not so tall as himself, which I hope he will live to enjoy.
We were very glad of Stephen’s change of occupation, & doubt not it will give his health great additional vigour, which it certainly requires. Poor Marianne has my sincere sympathy – this long absence, close upon the heels of the other, must be a severe trial for her – I dont imagine how wives live through such things. It seems as impossible for me ever to resign myself to such an abandonment as to exist without food – yet how many poor souls, wives of soldiers & sailors, par exemple, are expected to endure patiently such widowhood.
The moss-cushion may rest until you come, then you can see one Emmeline Austin [p. 3] has made, & receive from her all needful directions, & judge whether you desire to undertake such an amount of knitting. It is particularly pretty in summer upon straw matting, which made me propose it.
Henry is beginning to get his study into comfortable order, but it will take some time for either of us to become reconciled to the change. However, I console myself, at present, with the housekeeperian conviction that the other was in too shocking a state of uncleanness to be longer habitable, & although its fresh paint may take away from its mellow atmosphere of old, still we can return to it again with many of the familiar associations if discontented with its successor.
I am sure you have been disappointed about the may-[flo]wers through Miss Bella’s kindness. I ha[ve] been favored with a slight scent of them, and suppose it would be impossible to make them flourish here, which I am very anxious to do, without bringing so much soil with them that they cannot discover the liberty taken with their sweet persons.
Hoping soon to see you one & all, with much love to Father, Aunt Lucia, &c &c
ever yrs affly
Fanny L.
Please let me know how soon to expect you. Charlie is 11 months old today.
ADDRESSED: MRS PIERCE / CARE OF HON S. LONGFELLOW / PORTLAND. ME.

• Keywords: correspondence; long archives; frances e. a. longfellow papers (long 20257); frances elizabeth (appleton) longfellow; people; document; social life; health and illness; Correspondence (1011/002); (LONG-SeriesName); Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001); (LONG-SubseriesName); 1845 (1011/002.001-015); (LONG-FileUnitName)