Longfellow wrote some of the most loved and best-known poems in American literature, including "The Day is Done" and "Paul Revere's Ride." He was the first American to be honored with a bust in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey.
Early Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine on February 27, 1807, with his family tracing back to the Plymouth Pilgrims. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825, where Nathaniel Hawthorne had been his classmate.
Before he concentrated on poetry, Longfellow spent his early career teaching foreign languages, first at Bowdoin and later at Harvard. He was one of the few American poets who were so popular. He could support himself by writing.
Life Tragedies
Unfortunately, his private life was filled with sadness. His first wife, Mary Storer Potter, died shortly after they were married, and his second wife, Frances "Fanny" Appleton, was killed in a fire. His many poems reflect this sadness. He died at the age of 75, March 24, 1882.
Gift of Poetry
Longfellow had the gift for romantic storytelling. He published his first book of verse, Voices of the Night, when he was 32. This brought him wide public recognition. Two years later, he published Ballads, which contains some of his most famous poems, including "The Village Blacksmith."
He became known for his long poems telling stories by using simple ideas and language based on American history and mythology. These include The Song of Hiawatha, a tale from Native-American legends; The Courtship of Miles Standish, a romance set in the early days of the Pilgrim Fathers; and Evangeline, the story of the French exiles of France's colonies in North America.
Quoted from Longfellow's popular poem, "The Day is Done"
"The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.
A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only,
As the mist resembles the rain."
Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Hyperion, prose, 1839
- Voices of the Night, 1839
- Ballads and Other Poems, 1841
- Evangeline, 1847
- The Seaside and the Fireside, 1849
- The Song of Hiawatha, 1855
- The Courtship of Miles Standish, 1858
- Tales of a Wayside Inn, including "Paul Revere's Ride", 1863
- Christus, 1872
- Aftermath, 1874
- The Masque of Pandora, 1875
- Ultima Thule, 1880
- In the Harbor, 1882
Sources:
Goring, Rosemary, editor. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994
McGovern, Una, editor. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap, 2002
Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. Carlton Books Limited, 1997
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