Long, entertaining and enticing. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poems take you on a memorable trip down U.S. history. Hailed for their musical verses, Longfellow’s poems are treasured and widely translated even today. Some of us might have even studied them as part of our syllabus. Prominent public figures from Abraham Lincoln and Charles Dickens to Charles Baudelaire were admirers of his poetry.
Born on February 27, 1807 in Portland, Maine in the U.S., Longfellow started his career as a professor at Bowdoin College and later at Harvard College. But he gave up teaching in 1854 to focus on his writing. His works “Evangeline” (1847), “The Song of Hiawatha” (1855), and “Paul Revere’s Ride” (1860) cemented his place as one of the iconic poets of the U.S. He was the first American to translate Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy”.
Popular works
Let’s take a look at some of his noteworthy poems and the history behind them…
“Paul Revere’s Ride”
Written in a manner that suggests the galloping of a horse, Longfellow writes about the actions of American patriot Paul Revere in this poem. Revere is known for his midnight horse ride to alert the colonial militia in April 1775 to the approach of British forces. Longfellow wrote this epic poem as the U.S. moved towards a civil war. Though the poem has been criticised for its factual inaccuracies, it has been hailed as a call for courage.
“The Song of Hiawatha”
A long poem about the life of the Native Indians, “The Song of Hiawatha” tells the tale of Hiawatha, an Ojibwa Indian who becomes his people’s leader after performing feats of courage.
“Evangeline”
A sentimental poem, “Evangeline” follows a young couple separated when British soldiers expel the French colonists from what is now Nova Scotia. The couple, Evangeline and Gabriel, are reunited years later as Gabriel is dying.
Translating Dante
Longfellow lost the will to write after the death of his second wife 1861. She died after her dress accidentally caught fire. Seeking comfort in spirituality, he translated ‘The Divine Comedy” by Dante. He also wrote six sonnets on Dante that are among his finest poems.
Other works:
- “Poems on Slavery” (1842)
- “The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems” (1845)
- “The Courtship of Miles Standish” (1858)
- “The Golden Legend” (1851)
- “The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems” (1875)
- “The Seaside and Fireside” (1849)
DID YOU KNOW?
- Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s lawyer recited lines from Longfellow’s 1849 poem The Building of the Ship,” during Trump’s impeachment trial on February 10. 2021. The famous lines from the poem are: “Fear not each sudden sound and shock, Tis of the wave and not the rock.”
- The Portland Gazette published Longfellow’s first poem at the age of 13.
- Longfellow was a dog lover! His family had many pets, but Trap the Scotch Terrier was his favourite.
- Longfellow is the only American to be honored with a bust in Westminster Abbey in London, England. His marble bust was placed in the Poet’s Comer in 1884.
- One of his students at Harvard University was Henry David Thoreau.
- Longfellow was a polyglot and could speak eight languages.
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