When he was fifty, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the most famous American writer of his day, went back for a visit to his hometown of Portland, Maine. While there, he wrote a poem called “Changed”; here are the opening stanzas: From the outskirts of the town, Where of old the mile-stone stood, Now a stranger, looking down, I behold the shadowy crown Of the dark and haunted wood. It is changed, or am I changed? Ah! The oaks are fresh and green, But the friends with whom I ranged Through their thickets are estranged By the years that intervene.
