Image of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Timeline

Lifetime: 1807 - 1882 Passed: ≈ 142 years ago

Title

Poet, Professor

Country/Nationality

United States
Wikipedia

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the Fireside Poets from New England.

Longfellow wrote many lyric poems known for their musicality and often presenting stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and had success overseas. He has been criticized by some, however, for imitating European styles and writing specifically for the masses.

Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, which was then still part of Massachusetts. He studied at Bowdoin College and became a professor at Bowdoin and later at Harvard College after spending time in Europe. His first major poetry collections were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841). He retired from teaching in 1854 to focus on his writing, and he lived the remainder of his life in the Revolutionary War headquarters of George Washington in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His first wife Mary Potter died in 1835 after a miscarriage. His second wife Frances Appleton died in 1861 after sustaining burns when her dress caught fire. After her death, Longfellow had difficulty writing poetry for a time and focused on translating works from foreign languages. He died in 1882.

Much of Longfellow's work is categorized as lyric poetry, but he experimented with many forms, including hexameter and free verse. His published poetry shows great versatility, using anapestic and trochaic forms, blank verse, heroic couplets, ballads, and sonnets. Typically, he would carefully consider the subject of his poetic ideas for a long time before deciding on the right metrical form for it. Much of his work is recognized for its melodious musicality. As he says, "what a writer asks of his reader is not so much to like as to listen".

Books by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Hiawatha Cover image

Hiawatha

Poetry Fiction
Epic

The Song of Hiawatha is an 1855 epic poem in trochaic tetrameter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which features Native American characters. The epic relates the fictional adventures of an Ojibwe warrior named Hiawatha and the tragedy of his love for Mi...

Evangeline Cover image

Evangeline

Poetry Fiction
Epic Narrative

Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of...

The Courtship of Miles Standish  Cover image

The Courtship of Miles Standish

Poetry Fiction
Narrative Colonization

The Courtship of Miles Standish is an 1858 narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about the early days of Plymouth Colony, the colonial settlement established in America by the Mayflower Pilgrims.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Collection Vol. 001 Cover image

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Collection Vol. 001

Reference work
Comedy Mythology Legend Life Music Washington

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and "Evangeline". He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy and was one of the five members of the g...

Greetings from Longfellow Cover image

Greetings from Longfellow

Poetry
Future Poems Success Humanity Patriotism

This is a wonderful selection of six of the greatest works from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, unquestionably one of the world's most celebrated poets. Despite its small size, the book covers a wide spectrum of the poet's thoughts and ideas, from those...

Selections from Longfellow Cover image

Selections from Longfellow

Poetry
Sonnet Romantic Beauty Anthology Literature Poems

It showcases Longfellow's remarkable talent for capturing the essence of American life and history through his poetry. His works are characterized by their vivid imagery, poignant themes, and lyrical beauty, which have made them enduring favorites am...

The Slave In The Dismal Swamp Cover image

The Slave In The Dismal Swamp

Poetry
Slavery Courage Poems Freedom Determination Hope Verses Dangerous Refuge

In the dark and dangerous Dismal Swamp, a lone fugitive slave crouches in the reeds, hunted by his former masters. The Slave in the Dismal Swamp by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is a powerful poem that tells the story of a runaway slave who seeks refug...