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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "
Paul Revere's Ride "Paul Revere's Ride" is an 1860 poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that commemorates the actions of American patriot Paul Revere on April 18, 1775, although with significant inaccuracies. It was first published in the January 186 ...
", ''
The Song of Hiawatha ''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 l ...
'', and ''
Evangeline ''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 t ...
''. He was the first American to completely translate
Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
's ''
Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...
'' and was one of the
fireside poets The fireside poets – also known as the schoolroom or household poets – were a group of 19th-century American poets associated with New England. These poets were very popular among readers and critics both in the United States and overseas. Th ...
from New England. Longfellow was born in
Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
, which was then still part of Massachusetts. He graduated from
Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...
and became a professor there and, later, at
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
after studying 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 George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
. 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. Longfellow died in 1882. 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 for imitating European styles and writing poetry that was too sentimental.


Life and work


Early life and education

Longfellow was born on February 27, 1807, to
Stephen Longfellow Stephen Longfellow (March 23, 1776 – August 2, 1849) was a U.S. Representative from Maine. Biography Born in Gorham in the Province of Massachusetts Bay (in what is now Maine) to Stephen Longfellow and Patience Young Longfellow, Longfellow ...
and Zilpah (Wadsworth) Longfellow in
Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
, then a district of Massachusetts. He grew up in what is now known as the
Wadsworth-Longfellow House The Wadsworth-Longfellow House is a historic house and museum in Portland, Maine, United States. It is located at 489  Congress Street and is operated by the Maine Historical Society. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962, a ...
. His father was a lawyer, and his maternal grandfather was
Peleg Wadsworth Peleg Wadsworth (May 6, 1748 – November 12, 1829) was an American Patriot officer during the American Revolutionary War and a Congressman from Massachusetts representing the District of Maine. He was also grandfather of noted American p ...
, a general in the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
and a Member of Congress. His mother was descended from Richard Warren, a passenger on the ''
Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
''. He was named after his mother's brother Henry Wadsworth, a Navy lieutenant who had died three years earlier at the Battle of Tripoli. He was the second of eight children. Longfellow was descended from English colonists who settled in
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
in the early 1600s. They included ''Mayflower'' Pilgrims
Richard Warren Richard Warren (c. 1585c.1628) was one of the passengers on the Pilgrim ship ''Mayflower'' and a signer of the Mayflower Compact. Early life Richard Warren married Elizabeth Walker, at Great Amwell, Hertfordshire, on 14 April 1610. Elizabe ...
, William Brewster, and
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...
and
Priscilla Alden Priscilla Alden (, ) was a noted member of Massachusetts's Plymouth Colony of Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony), Pilgrims and the wife of fellow colonist John Alden (1687). They married in 1621 in Plymouth. Biography Priscilla was most likely born in ...
through their daughter
Elizabeth Pabodie Elizabeth Pabodie (1623–1717), also known as Elizabeth Alden Pabodie or Elizabeth Peabody, was allegedly the first white child born in New England. Life Elizabeth Pabodie was born Elizabeth Alden in 1623, the firstborn child of the Plymouth Col ...
, the first child born in
Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...
. Longfellow attended a
dame school Dame schools were small, privately run schools for young children that emerged in the British Isles and its colonies during the early modern period. These schools were taught by a “school dame,” a local woman who would educate children f ...
at the age of three and was enrolled by age six at the private Portland Academy. In his years there, he earned a reputation as being very studious and became fluent in Latin. His mother encouraged his enthusiasm for reading and learning, introducing him to ''
Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...
'' and ''
Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...
''. He published his first poem in the Portland ''Gazette'' on November 17, 1820, a patriotic and historical four-stanza poem called "The Battle of Lovell's Pond". He studied at the Portland Academy until age 14. He spent much of his summers as a child at his grandfather Peleg's farm in
Hiram, Maine Hiram is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,609 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Hiram, East Hiram, South Hiram and Durgintown. Located among the rugged and unspoiled Western Maine Mountains, Hir ...
. In the fall of 1822, 15-year-old Longfellow enrolled at
Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...
in
Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...
, along with his brother Stephen. His grandfather was a founder of the college and his father was a trustee. There Longfellow met
Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...
who became his lifelong friend. He boarded with a clergyman for a time before rooming on the third floor in 1823 of what is now known as Winthrop Hall. He joined the Peucinian Society, a group of students with
Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...
leanings. In his senior year, Longfellow wrote to his father about his aspirations:
I will not disguise it in the least...the fact is, I most eagerly aspire after future eminence in literature, my whole soul burns most ardently after it, and every earthly thought centres in it...I am almost confident in believing, that if I can ever rise in the world it must be by the exercise of my talents in the wide field of literature.
He pursued his literary goals by submitting poetry and prose to various newspapers and magazines, partly due to encouragement from Professor
Thomas Cogswell Upham Thomas Upham (January 20, 1799 – April 2, 1872) was an American philosopher, psychologist, pacifist, poet, author, and educator. He was an important figure in the holiness movement. He became influential within psychology literature and s ...
. He published nearly 40 minor poems between January 1824 and his graduation in 1825. About 24 of them were published in the short-lived Boston periodical ''The United States Literary Gazette''. When Longfellow graduated from Bowdoin, he was ranked fourth in the class and had been elected to
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
. He gave the student commencement address.


European tours and professorships

After graduating in 1825, Longfellow was offered a job as professor of modern languages at his alma mater. An apocryphal story claims that college trustee Benjamin Orr had been impressed by Longfellow's translation of
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
and hired him under the condition that he travel to Europe to study French, Spanish, and Italian. Whatever the catalyst, Longfellow began his tour of Europe in May 1826 aboard the ship ''Cadmus''. His time abroad lasted three years and cost his father $2,604.24, the equivalent of over $67,000 today. He traveled to France, Spain, Italy, Germany, back to France, then to England before returning to the United States in mid-August 1829. While overseas, he learned French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and German, mostly without formal instruction. In Madrid, he spent time with
Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...
and was particularly impressed by the author's work ethic. Irving encouraged the young Longfellow to pursue writing. While in Spain, Longfellow was saddened to learn that his favorite sister Elizabeth had died of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
at the age of 20 that May. On August 27, 1829, he wrote to the president of Bowdoin that he was turning down the professorship because he considered the $600 salary "disproportionate to the duties required". The trustees raised his salary to $800 with an additional $100 to serve as the college's librarian, a post which required one hour of work per day. During his years teaching at the college, he translated textbooks from French, Italian, and Spanish; his first published book was a translation of the poetry of medieval Spanish poet
Jorge Manrique Jorge Manrique (c. 1440 – 24 April 1479) was a major Castilian poet, whose main work, the ''Coplas por la muerte de su padre (Verses on the death of Don Rodrigo Manrique, his Father)'', is still read today. He was a supporter of the queen I ...
in 1833. He published the travel book '' Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea'' in serial form before a book edition was released in 1835. Shortly after the book's publication, Longfellow attempted to join the literary circle in New York and asked
George Pope Morris George Pope Morris (October 10, 1802 – July 6, 1864) was an American editor, poet, and songwriter. Life and work With Nathaniel Parker Willis, he co-founded the daily ''New York Evening Mirror''Sova, Dawn B. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z''. New Y ...
for an editorial role at one of Morris's publications. He considered moving to New York after New York University proposed offering him a newly created professorship of modern languages, but there would be no salary. The professorship was not created and Longfellow agreed to continue teaching at Bowdoin. It may have been joyless work. He wrote, "I hate the sight of pen, ink, and paper ... I do not believe that I was born for such a lot. I have aimed higher than this". On September 14, 1831, Longfellow married Mary Storer Potter, a childhood friend from Portland. The couple settled in Brunswick, but the two were not happy there. Longfellow published several nonfiction and fiction prose pieces in 1833 inspired by Irving, including "The Indian Summer" and "The Bald Eagle". In December 1834, Longfellow received a letter from
Josiah Quincy III Josiah Quincy III (; February 4, 1772 – July 1, 1864) was an American educator and political figure. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1805–1813), mayor of Boston (1823–1828), and President of Harvard University (182 ...
, president of Harvard College, offering him the Smith Professorship of Modern Languages with the stipulation that he spend a year or so abroad. There, he further studied German as well as Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, and Icelandic. In October 1835, his wife Mary had a miscarriage during the trip, about six months into her pregnancy. She did not recover and died after several weeks of illness at the age of 22 on November 29, 1835. Longfellow had her body embalmed immediately and placed in a lead coffin inside an oak coffin, which was shipped to
Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...
near Boston. He was deeply saddened by her death and wrote: "One thought occupies me night and day...She is dead – She is dead! All day I am weary and sad". Three years later, he was inspired to write the poem "Footsteps of Angels" about her. Several years later, he wrote the poem "Mezzo Cammin," which expressed his personal struggles in his middle years. Longfellow returned to the United States in 1836 and took up the professorship at Harvard. He was required to live in Cambridge to be close to the campus and, therefore, rented rooms at the Craigie House in the spring of 1837. The home was built in 1759 and was the headquarters of
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
during the Siege of Boston beginning in July 1775. Elizabeth Craigie owned the home, the widow of
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie (1754-1819) is best known for serving as the first Apothecary General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The one-time owner of the Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, Craigie dev ...
, and she rented rooms on the second floor. Previous boarders included
Jared Sparks Jared Sparks (May 10, 1789 – March 14, 1866) was an American historian, educator, and Unitarian minister. He served as President of Harvard College from 1849 to 1853. Biography Born in Willington, Connecticut, Sparks studied in the common s ...
,
Edward Everett Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Mass ...
, and
Joseph Emerson Worcester Joseph Emerson Worcester (August 24, 1784 – October 27, 1865) was an American lexicographer who was the chief competitor to Noah Webster of ''Webster's Dictionary'' in the mid-nineteenth-century. Their rivalry became known as the "dictionary ...
. It is preserved today as the
Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site The Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site (also known as the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House and, until December 2010, Longfellow National Historic Site) is a historic site located at 105 Brattle Street in Cambridge ...
. Longfellow began publishing his poetry in 1839, including the collection ''Voices of the Night'', his debut book of poetry. The bulk of ''Voices of the Night'' was translations, but he included nine original poems and seven poems that he had written as a teenager. ''Ballads and Other Poems'' was published in 1841 and included "
The Village Blacksmith "The Village Blacksmith" is a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in 1840. The poem describes a local blacksmith and his daily life. The blacksmith serves as a role model who balances his job with the role he plays with his family ...
" and "
The Wreck of the Hesperus "The Wreck of the Hesperus" is a narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in ''Ballads and Other Poems'' in 1842. It is a story that presents the tragic consequences of a skipper's pride. On an ill-fated voyag ...
", which were instantly popular. He became part of the local social scene, creating a group of friends who called themselves the Five of Clubs. Members included
Cornelius Conway Felton Cornelius Conway Felton (November 6, 1807 – February 26, 1862) was an American educator. He was regent of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as professor of Greek literature and president of Harvard University. Early life Felton was born in ...
, George Stillman Hillard, and
Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...
; Sumner became Longfellow's closest friend over the next 30 years. Longfellow was well liked as a professor, but he disliked being "constantly a playmate for boys" rather than "stretching out and grappling with men's minds."


Courtship of Frances Appleton

Longfellow met Boston industrialist Nathan Appleton and his family in the town of
Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thou ...
, Switzerland, including his son
Thomas Gold Appleton Thomas Gold Appleton (March 31, 1812April 17, 1884), son of merchant Nathan Appleton and Maria Theresa Gold, was an American writer, an artist, and a patron of the fine arts. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow became his brother-in-law after marrying Ap ...
. There he began courting Appleton's daughter Frances "Fanny" Appleton. The independent-minded Fanny was not interested in marriage, but Longfellow was determined. In July 1839, he wrote to a friend: "Victory hangs doubtful. The lady says she ''will not''! I say she ''shall''! It is not ''pride'', but the madness of passion". His friend George Stillman Hillard encouraged him in the pursuit: "I delight to see you keeping up so stout a heart for the resolve to conquer is half the battle in love as well as war". During the courtship, Longfellow frequently walked from Cambridge to the Appleton home in Beacon Hill in Boston by crossing the Boston Bridge. That bridge was replaced in 1906 by a new bridge which was later renamed the
Longfellow Bridge The Longfellow Bridge is a steel rib arch bridge spanning the Charles River to connect Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood with the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The bridge carries Massachusetts Route 3, US Route 3, the MBTA R ...
. In late 1839, Longfellow published '' Hyperion'', inspired by his trips abroad and his unsuccessful courtship of Fanny Appleton. Amidst this, he 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 Boppard (), formerly also spelled Boppart, is a town and municipality (since the 1976 inclusion of 9 neighbouring villages, ''Ortsbezirken'') in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, lying in the Rhine Gorge, a UNE ...
in Germany. After returning, he published the play ''The Spanish Student'' in 1842, reflecting his memories from his time in Spain in the 1820s. The small collection '' Poems on Slavery'' was published in 1842 as Longfellow's first public support of abolitionism. However, as Longfellow himself wrote, the poems were "so mild that even a Slaveholder might read them without losing his appetite for breakfast". A critic for ''
The Dial ''The Dial'' was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review and ...
'' agreed, calling it "the thinnest of all Mr. Longfellow's thin books; spirited and polished like its forerunners; but the topic would warrant a deeper tone". The New England Anti-Slavery Association, however, was satisfied enough with the collection to reprint it for further distribution. On May 10, 1843, after seven years, Longfellow received a letter from Fanny Appleton agreeing to marry him. He was too restless to take a carriage and walked 90 minutes to meet her at her house. They were soon married; Nathan Appleton bought the Craigie House as a wedding present, and Longfellow lived there for the rest of his life. His love for Fanny is evident in the following lines from his only love poem, the sonnet "The Evening Star" which he wrote in October 1845: "O my beloved, my sweet
Hesperus In Greek mythology, Hesperus (; grc, Ἕσπερος, Hésperos) is the Evening Star, the planet Venus in the evening. He is one of the '' Astra Planeta''. A son of the dawn goddess Eos ( Roman Aurora), he is the half-brother of her other son, ...
! My morning and my evening star of love!" He once attended a ball without her and noted, "The lights seemed dimmer, the music sadder, the flowers fewer, and the women less fair." He and Fanny had six children: Charles Appleton (1844–1893), Ernest Wadsworth (1845–1921), Fanny (1847–1848), Alice Mary (1850–1928), Edith (1853–1915), and Anne Allegra (1855–1934). Their second-youngest daughter was Edith who married Richard Henry Dana III, son of Richard Henry Dana, Jr. who wrote ''
Two Years Before the Mast ''Two Years Before the Mast'' is a memoir by the American author Richard Henry Dana Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage from Boston to California on a merchant ship starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the ...
''. Their daughter Fanny was born on April 7, 1847, and Dr. Nathan Cooley Keep administered
ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...
to the mother as the first obstetric
anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...
in the United States. Longfellow published his epic poem ''
Evangeline ''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 t ...
'' for the first time a few months later on November 1, 1847. His literary income was increasing considerably; in 1840, he had made $219 from his work, but 1850 brought him $1,900. On June 14, 1853, Longfellow held a farewell dinner party at his Cambridge home for his friend
Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...
, who was preparing to move overseas. In 1854, he retired from Harvard, devoting himself entirely to writing. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from Harvard in 1859.


Death of Frances

Frances was putting locks of her children's hair into an envelope on July 9, 1861 and attempting to seal it with hot sealing wax while Longfellow took a nap. Her dress suddenly caught fire, but it is unclear exactly how; burning wax or a lighted candle may have fallen onto it. Longfellow was awakened from his nap and rushed to help her, throwing a rug over her, but it was too small. He stifled the flames with his body, but she was badly burned. Longfellow's youngest daughter Annie explained the story differently some 50 years later, claiming that there had been no candle or wax but that the fire had started from a self-lighting match that had fallen on the floor. Both accounts state that Frances was taken to her room to recover, and a doctor was called. She was in and out of consciousness throughout the night and was administered
ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...
. She died shortly after 10 the next morning, July 10, after requesting a cup of coffee. Longfellow had burned himself while trying to save her, badly enough that he was unable to attend her funeral. His facial injuries led him to stop shaving, and he wore a beard from then on which became his trademark. Longfellow was devastated by Frances’ death and never fully recovered; he occasionally resorted to laudanum and ether to deal with his grief. He worried that he would go insane, begging "not to be sent to an asylum" and noting that he was "inwardly bleeding to death". He expressed his grief in the sonnet "The Cross of Snow" (1879) which he wrote 18 years later to commemorate her death: :Such is the cross I wear upon my breast ::These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes ::And seasons, changeless since the day she died.


Later life and death

Longfellow spent several years translating
Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
's ''
Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...
''. To aid him in perfecting the translation and reviewing proofs, he invited friends to meetings every Wednesday starting in 1864. The "Dante Club", as it was called, regularly included
William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...
,
James Russell Lowell James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that ri ...
, and
Charles Eliot Norton Charles Eliot Norton (November 16, 1827 – October 21, 1908) was an American author, social critic, and Harvard professor of art based in New England. He was a progressive social reformer and a liberal activist whom many of his contemporaries c ...
, as well as other occasional guests. The full three-volume translation was published in the spring of 1867, but Longfellow continued to revise it. It went through four printings in its first year. By 1868, Longfellow's annual income was over $48,000. In 1874, Samuel Ward helped him sell the poem "The Hanging of the Crane" to the '' New York Ledger'' for $3,000; it was the highest price ever paid for a poem. During the 1860s, Longfellow supported
abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...
and especially hoped for reconciliation between the northern and southern states after the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. His son was injured during the war, and he wrote the poem "Christmas Bells", later the basis of the carol ''
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is a Christmas carol based on the 1863 poem "Christmas Bells" by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The song tells of the narrator hearing Christmas bells during the American Civil War, but despairing ...
''. He wrote in his journal in 1878: "I have only one desire; and that is for harmony, and a frank and honest understanding between North and South". Longfellow accepted an offer from
Joshua Chamberlain Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (born Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain, September 8, 1828February 24, 1914) was an American college professor from Maine who volunteered during the American Civil War to join the Union Army. He became a highly respected and ...
to speak at his fiftieth reunion at Bowdoin College, despite his aversion to public speaking; he read the poem "Morituri Salutamus" so quietly that few could hear him. The next year, he declined an offer to be nominated for the Board of Overseers at Harvard "for reasons very conclusive to my own mind". On August 22, 1879, a female admirer traveled to Longfellow's house in Cambridge and, unaware to whom she was speaking, asked him: "Is this the house where Longfellow was born?" He told her that it was not. The visitor then asked if he had died here. "Not yet", he replied. In March 1882, Longfellow went to bed with severe stomach pain. He endured the pain for several days with the help of
opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
before he died surrounded by family on Friday, March 24. He had been suffering from
peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part or ...
. At the time of his death, his estate was worth an estimated $356,320. He is buried with both of his wives at
Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His last few years were spent translating the poetry of
Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
. Longfellow never considered it complete enough to be published during his lifetime, but a posthumous edition was collected in 1883. Scholars generally regard the work as autobiographical, reflecting the translator as an aging artist facing his impending death.


Writing


Style

Much of Longfellow's work is categorized as
lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...
, but he experimented with many forms, including
hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...
and
free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French ''vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Definit ...
. His published poetry shows great versatility, using
anapest An anapaest (; also spelled anapæst or anapest, also called antidactylus) is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. In classical quantitative meters it consists of two short syllables followed by a long one; in accentual stress meters it consist ...
ic and
trochaic In English poetic metre and modern linguistics, a trochee () is a metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one. But in Latin and Ancient Greek poetic metre, a trochee is a heavy syllable followed by a light one (al ...
forms,
blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and Pa ...
,
heroic couplet A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used in epic and narrative poetry, and consisting of a rhyming pair of lines in iambic pentameter. Use of the heroic couplet was pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the ''Legend of ...
s,
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
s, 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''". As a very private man, Longfellow did not often add autobiographical elements to his poetry. Two notable exceptions are dedicated to the death of members of his family. "Resignation" was written as a response to the death of his daughter Fanny in 1848; it does not use first-person pronouns and is instead a generalized poem of mourning. The death of his second wife Frances, as biographer Charles Calhoun wrote, deeply affected Longfellow personally but "seemed not to touch his poetry, at least directly". His memorial poem to her was the sonnet "The Cross of Snow" and was not published in his lifetime. Longfellow often used
didacticism Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...
in his poetry, but he focused on it less in his later years. Much of his poetry imparts cultural and moral values, particularly focused on life being more than material pursuits. He often used
allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...
in his work. In "Nature", for example, death is depicted as bedtime for a cranky child. Many of the
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
s that he used in his poetry came from legends, mythology, and literature. He was inspired, for example, by
Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
for "
The Skeleton in Armor The Skeleton in Armor is the name given to a skeleton associated with metal, bark and cloth artifacts which was unearthed in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1832. The skeleton was subsequently destroyed in a fire in 1843. It is also the name of a poem ...
" and by Finnish legends for ''
The Song of Hiawatha ''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 l ...
''. Longfellow rarely wrote on current subjects and seemed detached from contemporary American concerns. Even so, he called for the development of high quality American literature, as did many others during this period. In '' Kavanagh'', a character says:
We want a national literature commensurate with our mountains and rivers ... We want a national epic that shall correspond to the size of the country ... We want a national drama in which scope shall be given to our gigantic ideas and to the unparalleled activity of our people ... In a word, we want a national literature altogether shaggy and unshorn, that shall shake the earth, like a herd of buffaloes thundering over the prairies.
He was important as a translator; his translation of Dante became a required possession for those who wanted to be a part of high culture. He encouraged and supported other translators, as well. In 1845, he published ''The Poets and Poetry of Europe'', an 800-page compilation of translations made by other writers, including many by his friend and colleague
Cornelius Conway Felton Cornelius Conway Felton (November 6, 1807 – February 26, 1862) was an American educator. He was regent of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as professor of Greek literature and president of Harvard University. Early life Felton was born in ...
. Longfellow intended the anthology "to bring together, into a compact and convenient form, as large an amount as possible of those English translations which are scattered through many volumes, and are not accessible to the general reader". In honor of his role with translations, Harvard established the Longfellow Institute in 1994, dedicated to literature written in the United States in languages other than English. In 1874, Longfellow oversaw a 31-volume anthology called ''Poems of Places'' which collected poems representing several geographical locations, including European, Asian, and Arabian countries. Emerson was disappointed and reportedly told Longfellow: "The world is expecting better things of you than this ... You are wasting time that should be bestowed upon original production". In preparing the volume, Longfellow hired Katherine Sherwood Bonner as an amanuensis.


Critical response

Fellow Portland, Maine native John Neal published the first substantial praise of Longfellow's work. In the January 23, 1828 issue of his magazine ''
The Yankee ''The Yankee'' (later retitled ''The Yankee and Boston Literary Gazette'') was one of the first cultural publications in the United States, founded and edited by John Neal (1793–1876), and published in Portland, Maine as a weekly periodical ...
'', he wrote, "As for Mr. Longfellow, he has a fine genius and a pure and safe taste, and all that he wants, we believe, is a little more energy, and a little more stoutness." Longfellow's early collections ''Voices of the Night'' and ''Ballads and Other Poems'' made him instantly popular. The ''New-Yorker'' called him "one of the very few in our time who has successfully aimed in putting poetry to its best and sweetest uses". The ''
Southern Literary Messenger The ''Southern Literary Messenger'' was a periodical published in Richmond, Virginia, from August 1834 to June 1864, and from 1939 to 1945. Each issue carried a subtitle of "Devoted to Every Department of Literature and the Fine Arts" or some var ...
'' immediately put Longfellow "among the first of our American poets". Poet John Greenleaf Whittier said that Longfellow's poetry illustrated "the careful moulding by which art attains the graceful ease and chaste simplicity of nature". Longfellow's friend
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (; August 29, 1809 – October 7, 1894) was an American physician, poet, and polymath based in Boston. Grouped among the fireside poets, he was acclaimed by his peers as one of the best writers of the day. His most fa ...
wrote of him as "our chief singer" and one who "wins and warms ... kindles, softens, cheers ndcalms the wildest woe and stays the bitterest tears!" The rapidity with which American readers embraced Longfellow was unparalleled in publishing history in the United States; by 1874, he was earning $3,000 per poem. His popularity spread throughout Europe, as well, and his poetry was translated during his lifetime into Italian, French, German, and other languages. Scholar
Bliss Perry Bliss Perry (25 November 1860 – 13 February 1954), was an American literary critic, writer, editor, and teacher. Biography Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts to Arthur Latham Perry, a prominent economist, and Mary Brown Perry. He was ...
suggests that criticizing Longfellow at that time was almost a criminal act equal to "carrying a rifle into a national park". In the last two decades of his life, he often received requests for autographs from strangers, which he always sent. John Greenleaf Whittier suggested that it was this massive correspondence which led to Longfellow's death: "My friend Longfellow was driven to death by these incessant demands". Contemporaneous writer
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
wrote to Longfellow in May 1841 of his "fervent admiration which
our Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...
genius has inspired in me" and later called him "unquestionably the best poet in America". Poe's reputation increased as a critic, however, and he later publicly accused Longfellow of
plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...
in what Poe biographers call "The Longfellow War". He wrote that Longfellow was "a determined imitator and a dextrous adapter of the ideas of other people", specifically Alfred, Lord Tennyson. His accusations may have been a publicity stunt to boost readership of the ''
Broadway Journal The ''Broadway Journal'' was a short-lived New York City-based newspaper founded by Charles Frederick Briggs and John Bisco in 1844 and was published from January 1845 to January 1846. In its first year, the publication was bought by Edgar Allan P ...
'', for which he was the editor at the time. Longfellow did not respond publicly but, after Poe's death, he wrote: "The harshness of his criticisms I have never attributed to anything but the irritation of a sensitive nature chafed by some indefinite sense of wrong".
Margaret Fuller Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movemen ...
judged Longfellow "artificial and imitative" and lacking force. Poet
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...
considered him an imitator of European forms, but he praised his ability to reach a popular audience as "the expressor of common themes—of the little songs of the masses". He added, "Longfellow was no revolutionarie: never traveled new paths: of course never broke new paths."
Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a w ...
said that Longfellow could be completely removed from the history of literature without much effect. Toward the end of his life, contemporaries considered him as more of a children's poet, as many of his readers were children. A reviewer in 1848 accused Longfellow of creating a "goody two-shoes kind of literature ... slipshod, sentimental stories told in the style of the nursery, beginning in nothing and ending in nothing". A more modern critic said, "Who, except wretched schoolchildren, now reads Longfellow?" A London critic in the ''London Quarterly Review'', however, condemned ''all'' American poetry—"with two or three exceptions, there is not a poet of mark in the whole union"—but he singled out Longfellow as one of those exceptions. An editor of the ''Boston Evening Transcript'' wrote in 1846, "Whatever the miserable envy of trashy criticism may write against Longfellow, one thing is most certain, no American poet is more read".


Legacy

Longfellow was the most popular poet of his day. As a friend once wrote, "no other poet was so fully recognized in his lifetime". Many of his works helped shape the American character and its legacy, particularly with the poem "
Paul Revere's Ride "Paul Revere's Ride" is an 1860 poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that commemorates the actions of American patriot Paul Revere on April 18, 1775, although with significant inaccuracies. It was first published in the January 186 ...
". He was such an admired figure in the United States during his life that his 70th birthday in 1877 took on the air of a national holiday, with parades, speeches, and the reading of his poetry. Longfellow's popularity rapidly declined, beginning shortly after his death and into the 20th century, as academics focused attention on other poets such as Walt Whitman,
Edwin Arlington Robinson Edwin Arlington Robinson (December 22, 1869 – April 6, 1935) was an American poet and playwright. Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on three occasions and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Early life Robin ...
, and Robert Frost. In the 20th century, literary scholar Kermit Vanderbilt noted: "Increasingly rare is the scholar who braves ridicule to justify the art of Longfellow's popular rhymings." Twentieth-century poet Lewis Putnam Turco concluded that "Longfellow was minor and derivative in every way throughout his career ... nothing more than a hack imitator of the English Romantics." Author
Nicholas A. Basbanes Nicholas Andrew Basbanes (born May 25, 1943, in Lowell, Massachusetts) is an American author who writes and lectures about authors, books, and book culture. His subjects include the "eternal passion for books" ('' A Gentle Madness''); the histor ...
, in his 2020 book ''Cross of Snow: A Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow'', defended Longfellow as "the victim of an orchestrated dismissal that may well be unique in American literary history". Over the years, Longfellow's personality has become part of his reputation. He has been presented as a gentle, placid, poetic soul, an image perpetuated by his brother Samuel Longfellow who wrote an early biography which specifically emphasized these points. As James Russell Lowell said, Longfellow had an "absolute sweetness, simplicity, and modesty". At Longfellow's funeral, his friend
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
called him "a sweet and beautiful soul". In reality, his life was much more difficult than was assumed. He suffered from
neuralgia Neuralgia (Greek ''neuron'', "nerve" + ''algos'', "pain") is pain in the distribution of one or more nerves, as in intercostal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, and glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Classification Under the general heading of neural ...
, which caused him constant pain, and he had poor eyesight. He wrote to friend Charles Sumner: "I do not believe anyone ''can'' be perfectly well, who has a brain and a heart". He had difficulty coping with the death of his second wife. Longfellow was very quiet, reserved, and private; in later years, he was known for being unsocial and avoided leaving home. Longfellow had become one of the first American celebrities and was popular in Europe. It was reported that 10,000 copies of ''
The Courtship of Miles Standish ''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. Overview ''Th ...
'' sold in London in a single day. Children adored him; "The Village Blacksmith"'s "spreading chestnut-tree" was cut down and the children of Cambridge had it converted into an armchair which they presented to him. In 1884, Longfellow became the first non-British writer for whom a commemorative bust was placed in
Poet's Corner Poets' Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey in the City of Westminster, London because of the high number of poets, playwrights, and writers buried and commemorated there. The first poe ...
of
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
in London; he remains the only American poet represented with a bust. A public monument by
Franklin Simmons Franklin Bachelder Simmons (January 11, 1839 – December 8, 1913) was a prominent American sculptor of the nineteenth century. Three of his statues are in the National Statuary Hall Collection, three of his busts are in the United States Senate ...
was erected in Longfellow’s birthplace of Portland, Maine, in September 1888. In 1909, a statue of Longfellow was unveiled in Washington, DC, sculpted by William Couper. He was honored in March 2007 when the
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
issued a stamp commemorating him. As a memorial to their father, Longfellow's children donated land across Brattle Street and facing the family home to the City of Cambridge, which became Longfellow Park. A monument featuring a bas relief of Miles Standish, Sadalphon, the Village Blacksmith, the Spanish Student, Evangeline, and Hiawatha, characters from Longfellow’s works, was dedicated in October 1914.


List of works

* ''
Outre-Mer ''Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea'' is a prose collection by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It was the first major work by Longfellow and it was inspired by his travels in Europe as a young man. The term "outre-mer" is French fo ...
: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea'' (Travelogue) (1835) * '' Hyperion, a Romance'' (1839) * ''The Spanish Student. A Play in Three Acts'' (1843) * ''
Evangeline ''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 t ...
: A Tale of Acadie'' (epic poem) (1847) * '' Kavanagh'' (1849) * ''The Golden Legend'' (poem) (1851) * ''
The Song of Hiawatha ''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 l ...
'' (epic poem) (1855) * ''The Legend of Rabbi Ben Levi'' (1863) * ''The New England Tragedies'' (1868) * ''The Divine Tragedy'' (1871) * ''Christus: A Mystery'' (1872) * ''The Arrow and the Song'' (poem) ;Poetry collections * ''Voices of the Night'' (1839) * ''Ballads and Other Poems'' (1841) * '' Poems on Slavery'' (1842) * ''The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems'' (1845) * ''The Seaside and the Fireside'' (1850) * ''The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow'' (London, 1852), with illustrations by John Gilbert * ''
The Courtship of Miles Standish ''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. Overview ''Th ...
and Other Poems'' (1858) * ''
Tales of a Wayside Inn ''Tales of a Wayside Inn'' is a collection of poems by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The book, published in 1863, depicts a group of people at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts as each tells a story in the form of a poem. Th ...
'' (including the "second flight" of ''Birds of Passage'') (1863) * ''Household Poems'' (1865) * ''Flower-de-Luce'' (1867) * ''Three Books of Song'' (including the second part of ''Tales of a Wayside Inn'') (1872) * ''Aftermath'' (comprising the third part of ''Tales of a Wayside Inn'' and the "third flight" of ''Birds of Passage'') (1873) * ''The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems'' (1875) * ''Kéramos and Other Poems'' (1878) * ''Ultima Thule'' (1880) * ''In the Harbor'' (1882) * ''Michel Angelo: A Fragment'' (incomplete; published posthumously) ;Translations * ''Coplas de Don Jorge Manrique'' (Translation from Spanish) (1833) * ''Dante's
Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...
'' (Translation) (1867) ;Anthologies * ''Poets and Poetry of Europe'' (Translations) (1844) * ''The Waif'' (1845) * ''Poems of Places'' (1874)


See also

*
Whom the gods would destroy The saying Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad, sometimes given in Latin as ''Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat'' (literally: Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first deprives of reason) or ''Quem Iuppiter vult perdere, dementa ...
*
Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. (August 18, 1854, Portland, Maine – February 16, 1934, Portland) was an American architect and nephew of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Biography Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. was the son of Alexan ...
, his nephew * ''The Golden Legend'' (cantata), a musical adaptation by Sullivan and
Bennett Bennett may refer to: People *Bennett (name), including a list of people with the surname and given name Places Canada * Bennett, Alberta *Bennett, British Columbia * Bennett Lake, in the British Columbia and Yukon Territory **Bennett Range **Benn ...
, of his poem ''The Golden Legend''


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

Sources
Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and biography at PoetryFoundation.org
* * *
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Profile and Poems at Poets.org



Maine Historical Society
Searchable poem text database, biographical data, lesson plans. *Davidson, Thomas (1911). " Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.) ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 16. (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 977–980. Other
Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Wadsworth–Longfellow House
in Portland, Maine
Public Poet, Private Man: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at 200
Online exhibition featuring material from the collection of Longfellow's papers at the
Houghton Library Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library system of Harvard's Faculty of ...
, Harvard University.
Longfellow's Translation of Dante rendered side by side with that of Cary and Norton




at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
has noteworthy representation volumes inscribed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 1807 births 1882 deaths American people of English descent Appleton family Bowdoin College alumni Deaths from peritonitis Harvard University faculty Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts Writers from Portland, Maine Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Spanish–English translators Translators of Dante Alighieri Mythopoeic writers Poets from Maine Novelists from Massachusetts Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American poets American male poets Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees American abolitionists 19th-century translators Epic poets Novelists from Maine Italian–English translators