Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet of the nineteenth century. Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, and Charles Baudelaire admired his poetry. He was the first American to translate ‘The Divine Comedy’, of Dante Alighieri.
He was the most famous American poet of his day and age. Longfellow was born on February 27th, 1807. Following his graduation from Bowdoin College in 1825, Longfellow worked in Europe and the United States.
‘Voices of the Night’, his first collection of poems, was printed in 1839. Ballads and Other Poems followed in 1842.
Many of these poems were inspirational, and spoke of people over-coming heavy odds. ‘A Psalm of Life’, is a typical poem of this kind. His poems were welcomed by many.
In 1854, Longfellow made a permanent break with teaching to write more poetry. ‘The Song of Hiawatha’, a long poem, and ‘The Courtship of Miles Standish’ and other poems followed.
Henry Longfellow’s seventy-fifth birthday, in 1882, was celebrated throughout the United States. Longfellow passed away on the 24th of March that year.