{"id":83161,"date":"2015-02-27T14:27:27","date_gmt":"2015-02-27T19:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=83161"},"modified":"2015-02-27T14:27:27","modified_gmt":"2015-02-27T19:27:27","slug":"the-universal-language-of-mankind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/","title":{"rendered":"The Universal Language of Mankind"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_83166\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-83166\" class=\"wp-image-83166\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg\" alt=\"neildiamondserenade\" width=\"600\" height=\"447\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg 1021w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-83166\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Detail from the cover of Neil Diamond\u2019s <i>Serenade<\/i>, 1974.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIncreasingly rare is the scholar who braves ridicule to justify the art of Longfellow\u2019s popular rhymings,\u201d the critic\u00a0Kermit Vanderbilt once wrote. One scholar of the human heart who\u2019s never been accused of fearing ridicule is Neil Diamond. And, on his 1974 album,<em> Serenade<\/em>, he paid tribute to the Fireside Poet with his hit song \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ibKAAShM_qo\" target=\"_blank\">Longfellow Serenade<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the liner notes to a later compilation, Diamond explains, \u201cOccasionally I like using a particular lyrical style which, in this case, lent itself naturally to telling the story of a guy who woos his woman with poetry.\u201d <!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I\u2019ll weave his web of rhyme<br \/> Upon the summer night<br \/> We\u2019ll leave this worldly time<br \/> On his winged flight<br \/> Then come, and as we lay<br \/> Beside this sleepy glade<br \/> There I will sing to you<br \/> My Longfellow serenade<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Diamond doesn\u2019t specify which of the poet\u2019s verses the wooer employs. It\u2019s tempting to imagine some medallioned dude quoting \u201cThe Midnight Ride of Paul Revere\u201d or \u201cHiawatha.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neil Diamond is good at laughing at himself and has gamely given himself over to life as a camp icon. But even he probably had something more serious in mind. Longfellow has long since been dismissed as a derivative Victorian hack, associated at most with rote learning and a few memorable rhyming quotes. But writers are popular for a reason, even if we scorn that reason. And the truth is, there are a few lines that would melt the heart of even the most sophisticated, grooviest \u201cCharlie\u201d girl.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>There are moments in life, when the heart is so full of emotion<br \/> that if by chance it be shaken, or into its depths like a pebble<br \/> Drops some careless word, it overflows, and its secret,<br \/> Spilled on the ground like water, can never be gathered together.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Sadie Stein is contributing editor of <\/em>The Paris Review <em>and the <\/em>Daily<em>\u2019s correspondent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIncreasingly rare is the scholar who braves ridicule to justify the art of Longfellow\u2019s popular rhymings,\u201d the critic\u00a0Kermit Vanderbilt once wrote. One scholar of the human heart who\u2019s never been accused of fearing ridicule is Neil Diamond. And, on his 1974 album, Serenade, he paid tribute to the Fireside Poet with his hit song \u201cLongfellow [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[12133,17204,2111,46,17202,165,17203,14881],"class_list":["post-83161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-henry-wadsworth-longfellow","tag-longfellow-serenade","tag-love","tag-music","tag-neil-diamond","tag-poetry","tag-serenade","tag-songwriting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Neil Diamond, Longfellow, and Ridicule<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sadie Stein on the songwriter, now a camp icon, and his alignment with an unpopular poet.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Universal Language of Mankind by Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 27, 2015 \u2013 \u201cIncreasingly rare is the scholar who braves ridicule to justify the art of Longfellow\u2019s popular rhymings,\u201d the critic\u00a0Kermit Vanderbilt once wrote. One\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-27T19:27:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1021\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"761\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sadie Stein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sadie Stein\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9\"},\"headline\":\"The Universal Language of Mankind\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-27T19:27:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/\"},\"wordCount\":336,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Henry Wadsworth Longfellow\",\"Longfellow Serenade\",\"love\",\"music\",\"Neil Diamond\",\"poetry\",\"Serenade\",\"songwriting\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Our Daily Correspondent\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/\",\"name\":\"Neil Diamond, Longfellow, and Ridicule\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-27T19:27:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sadie Stein on the songwriter, now a camp icon, and his alignment with an unpopular poet.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Universal Language of Mankind\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9\",\"name\":\"Sadie Stein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sadie Stein\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/sstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Neil Diamond, Longfellow, and Ridicule","description":"Sadie Stein on the songwriter, now a camp icon, and his alignment with an unpopular poet.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Universal Language of Mankind by Sadie Stein","og_description":"February 27, 2015 \u2013 \u201cIncreasingly rare is the scholar who braves ridicule to justify the art of Longfellow\u2019s popular rhymings,\u201d the critic\u00a0Kermit Vanderbilt once wrote. One","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2015-02-27T19:27:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1021,"height":761,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sadie Stein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sadie Stein","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/"},"author":{"name":"Sadie Stein","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9"},"headline":"The Universal Language of Mankind","datePublished":"2015-02-27T19:27:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/"},"wordCount":336,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg","keywords":["Henry Wadsworth Longfellow","Longfellow Serenade","love","music","Neil Diamond","poetry","Serenade","songwriting"],"articleSection":["Our Daily Correspondent"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/","name":"Neil Diamond, Longfellow, and Ridicule","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg","datePublished":"2015-02-27T19:27:27+00:00","description":"Sadie Stein on the songwriter, now a camp icon, and his alignment with an unpopular poet.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/neildiamondserenade.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/27\/the-universal-language-of-mankind\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Universal Language of Mankind"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9","name":"Sadie Stein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sadie Stein"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/sstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83161"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83170,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83161\/revisions\/83170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}