Many of Cora’s lectures include poetry composed on the spot. As I’m not a scholar of 19th century poetry, I can only accept the abundant commentary of her contemporaries that her audiences were receptive and impressed by her poetic output. In November 26, 1870, Cora took a stanza from Longfellow’s poem Footsteps of Angels as a starting point for her poetic muse’s thoughts on that same theme. Here is a side by side comparison of Footsteps of Angels as rendered by Longfellow and Cora Richmond.