 In late 1839 , Longfellow published Hyperion , a book in prose inspired by his trips abroad and his unsuccessful courtship of Fanny Appleton . Amidst this , Longfellow fell into " periods of neurotic depression with moments of panic " and took a six @-@ month leave of absence from Harvard to attend a health spa in the former Marienberg Benedictine Convent at Boppard in Germany . After returning , Longfellow published a play in 1842 , The Spanish Student , reflecting his memories from his time in Spain in the 1820s . There was some confusion over its original manuscript . After being printed in Graham 's Magazine , its editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold saved the manuscript from the trash . Longfellow was surprised to hear that it had been saved , unusual for a printing office , and asked to borrow it so that he could revise it , forgetting to return it to Griswold . The often vindictive Griswold wrote an angry letter in response . 
