Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893.
The Seaside and the Fireside
By the Fireside. Sonnet, on Mrs. Kemble’s Readings from Shakespeare
In the winter of 1849 Mrs. Fanny Kemble Butler was reading Shakespeare in Boston, and Mr. Longfellow was a constant attendant. He notes in his diary under date of February 20: “We did not go last night to hear Othello. I wrote this morning a sonnet on Mrs. Butler’s readings.” A week later the poet entertained Mrs. Butler after a reading in Cambridge, and read his sonnet at the close of the supper.
