From London the Longfellow party proceeded to Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. During his lifetime Longfellow was loved and admired both at home and abroad. In his grief Longfellow moved on to Heidelberg and immersion in German literaturereadings in Goethe, Schiller, Ludwig Uhland, Jean Paul Richter, E.T.A. Born on February 27, 1807, in Portland (while Maine was still a part of Massachusetts), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow grew up in the thriving coastal city he remembered in My Lost Youth (1856) for its wharves and woodlands, the ships and sailors from distant lands who sparked his boyish imagination, and the historical associations of its old fort and an 1813 offshore naval battle between American and British brigs. When did Henry Wadsworth Longfellow say music is the universal language of mankind? As a Master NLP and Hypnosis Practitioner, Spiritual Life Coach, and Speech and Drama Teacher, Sally takes a holistic approach to voice - as an energetic channel affected by our physical . Hiawatha introduces his tribe to agriculture through his encounter with the corn god Mondamin, to transportation by inventing the birch canoe, and to picture-writing. Born in Portland in 1807, when that bustling port city was still part of Massachusetts, Longfellow came from an old, established family of lawyers, judges, and generals. The Song of Hiawatha is an 1855 epic poem in trochaic tetrameter by . Why did Henry Wadsworth Longfellow write a Psalm of Life? [75], Longfellow was devastated by Frances death and never fully recovered; he occasionally resorted to laudanum and ether to deal with his grief. by. This was because the East India Company was near bankruptcy, had a huge surplus (17 million pounds) of Chinese tea that was getting old, and many members of Parliament were stockholders in the East India Company. That ordeal touched his family directly in late 1862, when Charles Longfellow was wounded while fighting for the Union army; his father and brother made an anxious trip to Washington to escort him home. He was the first American to completely translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the fireside poets from New England. But, in fact, Smith had many of the same worries about commercial society that Rousseau did and . Longfellow published two collections of verse by other poets, The Waif (1845) and The Estray (1846), each preceded by an original poem relating to the poet and his audience. Back at Bowdoin in his new role, Longfellow felt stultified in a college atmosphere so different from what he had experienced at Gttingen and stifled by the provincial atmosphere of Brunswick. Fanny's father Nathan Appleton gave Craigie House to the Longfellows as a wedding gift, and it became a meeting place for literary and philosophical figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Julia Ward Howe . 1860. Most of us only get one life. [15] He joined the Peucinian Society, a group of students with Federalist leanings. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, (born February 27, 1807, Portland, Massachusetts [now in Maine], U.S.died March 24, 1882, Cambridge, Massachusetts), the most popular American poet in the 19th century, known for such works as The Song of Hiawatha (1855) and "Paul Revere's Ride" (1863). Longfellow never considered it complete enough to be published during his lifetime, but a posthumous edition was collected in 1883. In Germany, Longfellow formed a close friendship with the poet Ferdinand Freiligrath, and in England he deepened an earlier acquaintance with Charles Dickens. From a New Historicist standpoint Longfellow is classified with others in Fieldss Houghton-Mifflin stable as one of those authors used to impose a presumed high culture of English Puritan origins on subsequent generations and immigrant populations, even though Longfellow might also be recognized as one whose broadly inclusive responsiveness to European traditions could have smoothed assimilation for the children of newcomers from central and southern Europe. [101] Many of the metaphors that he used in his poetry came from legends, mythology, and literature. The volume In the Harbor, Ultima ThulePart 2 came out just after his death in 1882 and included his final composition, The Bells of San Blas (1882). Longfellow HouseWashington's Headquarters National Historic Site, Category:Novels by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Category:Poetry by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Family relationship of Richard Warren and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow via Richard Warren", "Direct Ancestors of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow", "Value of 1826 dollars today | Inflation Calculator", "Longfellow Park (U.S. National Park Service)", Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and biography at PoetryFoundation.org, Works by or about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Profile and Poems at Poets.org, Public Poet, Private Man: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at 200, Longfellow's Translation of Dante rendered side by side with that of Cary and Norton, Famous Quotations by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow&oldid=1136535888, This page was last edited on 30 January 2023, at 20:47. He also left a loving family and grateful readers who have continued to honor him by erecting statues and naming parks and schools for him, Evangeline, and Hiawatha. [22] His time abroad lasted three years and cost his father $2,604.24,[23] the equivalent of over $67,000 today. An apocryphal story claims that college trustee Benjamin Orr had been impressed by Longfellow's translation of Horace and hired him under the condition that he travel to Europe to study French, Spanish, and Italian. [110] In preparing the volume, Longfellow hired Katherine Sherwood Bonner as an amanuensis. He achieved a level of national and international prominence previously unequaled in the literary history of the United States and is one of the few American writers. Longfellow met Boston industrialist Nathan Appleton and his family in the town of Thun, Switzerland, including his son Thomas Gold Appleton. [35] The couple settled in Brunswick, but the two were not happy there. Longfellow returned to the United States in 1836 and took up the professorship at Harvard. "[138] 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. Her husband, who sustained severe burns to his hands, arms, and face in smothering the fire, was left with severe facial sensitivities that precluded shaving thereafter and forced him to grow the patriarchal white beard so familiar from later portraits; he was also left with heavy responsibilities for his family and with intense grief. [83] He is buried with both of his wives at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was reported that 10,000 copies of The Courtship of Miles Standish sold in London in a single day. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, "Music is the universal language of mankind.". At college he was attracted especially to Sir Walter Scotts romances and Washington Irvings Sketch Book, and his verses appeared in national magazines. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on 27 February 1807, the second child of eight born to Zilpah ne Wadsworth (1778-1851) and lawyer Stephen Longfellow (1775-1849) in the city of Portland, Maine. [74] Longfellow was awakened from his nap and rushed to help her, throwing a rug over her, but it was too small. Members included Cornelius Conway Felton, George Stillman Hillard, and Charles Sumner; Sumner became Longfellow's closest friend over the next 30 years. Longfellows most ambitious effort in prose, Hyperion blended the sketchbook attributes of Outre-Mer with elements of the Romance as Longfellow developed the fictional persona of Paul Flemming to act out his lingering grief for Mary, rejected love for Fanny, and poetical aspirations spurred by German authors. That poem appeared in one of those assemblages of short poems, identified as Birds of Passage, that Longfellow introduced in The Courtship of Miles Standish and Other Poems and returned to frequently in subsequent volumes. Long after his death in 1882, however, these neglected later works were seen to contain some of his most effective writing. Hoffmann, and Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg)that awakened a new sense of poetry as emotional expression. The first poem, Paul Reveres Ride, became a national favourite. Like . Deceased on March 24 40. About this Poet. Farnham, Russell Clare and Dorthy Evelyn Crawford. [17], He pursued his literary goals by submitting poetry and prose to various newspapers and magazines, partly due to encouragement from Professor Thomas Cogswell Upham. [100] He often used allegory in his work. [53] In July 1839, he wrote to a friend: "Victory hangs doubtful. A Psalm of Life (1838) expresses both the confusion of his feelings in that time of discouragement and his resolve not to succumb to mournful passivity. Although the original story involved the maidens lifelong search only through New England, Longfellow extended its geographic range. A translation of this work had been among his goals when teaching Dante at Harvard, and he had translated small parts of the poem in the early 1840s. Fanny Longfellow took pride in her husbands growing reputation and actively assisted him. The poem exalts and exocitizes Native Americans and assumes the obliteration of indigenous ways of life. [119] In the last two decades of his life, he often received requests for autographs from strangers, which he always sent. Longfellow had her body embalmed immediately and placed in a lead coffin inside an oak coffin, which was shipped to Mount Auburn Cemetery near Boston. I have aimed higher than this". New England storytelling traditions also engaged Longfellows attention in these years. [70], Frances was putting locks of her children's hair into an envelope on July 9, 1861[71] and attempting to seal it with hot sealing wax while Longfellow took a nap. [50] The Southern Literary Messenger immediately put Longfellow "among the first of our American poets". [141] As James Russell Lowell said, Longfellow had an "absolute sweetness, simplicity, and modesty". [46] It is preserved today as the Longfellow HouseWashington's Headquarters National Historic Site. In Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria, and Germany he was welcomed and honored. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Wadsworth-Longfellow, Academy of American Poets - Biography of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, National Park Service - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Official Site of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Maine: An Encyclopedia - Biography of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Poetry Foundation - Biography of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). . [60], On May 10, 1843, after seven years, Longfellow received a letter from Fanny Appleton agreeing to marry him. on 13 Jul 1843 in Cambridge, Middlesex Co., MA; they had the following. [dropcap letter="O"]n a fine September morning in 1822 the fast stagecoach from Portland to Brunswick was . [27] Irving encouraged the young Longfellow to pursue writing. Favorable responses to poems, reviews, sketches, and essays he contributed to the Portland Advertiser, American Monthly Magazine, and United States Literary Gazette sparked hopes for editing and writing opportunities that collided against the materialistic pragmatism of New England culture. Restless and sorrowful, Longfellow then set out alone to travel through the Tyrol and Switzerland. The failure of its first publisher kept half the first edition of 1,200 copies from distribution, and the eventual readership of the book, American travelers in Europe, probably discovered Hyperion based on its authors later reputation rather than its inherent merits as prose fiction. Longfellow completed his writing on his 40th birthday. Henry W. Longfellow, photographed by Mathew Brady, 1859. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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". Daughter of Nathan Appleton I b. After residing in Europe for four years to qualify for the Chair of Modern Languages in that College, he entered upon the duties of the same. was born at Portland, Maine, Feb. 27, 1807, and graduated at Bowdoin College, 1825. It's more full and complex than language we can experience it but not explain it. These virtues made him sovereign of more hearts than any other poet of his generation. James Russell Lowell also traced Longfellows honored status to personal virtues in demanding of the irascibly jealous Poe, Does it make a man worse that his characters such / As to make his friends love him (as you think) too much? He achieved a level of national and international prominence previously unequaled in the literary history of the United States and is one of the few American writers honored in the Poets Corner of Westminster Abbeyin fact, he is believed to be the first as his bust was installed there in 1884. Family tree of Henry WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. In 1836, Longfellow moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to teach foreign languages at Harvard College. Stanzas to a Lady on Leaving England 13. Longfellow returned to this theme three years later in his last major prose composition, Kavanagh, A Tale (1849). . [117] His popularity spread throughout Europe, as well, and his poetry was translated during his lifetime into Italian, French, German, and other languages. Although Longfellow introduced a love story in his account of Hiawathas wooing of Minnehaha, their marriage, and her death, for the most part he assembled legends he found in Schoolcrafts many books to exalt his Ojibway hero as a leader of supernatural birth (son of the West Wind, Mudjekeewis, and of Wenonah, whose mother, Nokomis, had fallen from the heavens) who leads his people in ways of peace. Hiawatha is an Ojibwa Indian who, after various mythic feats, becomes his peoples leader and marries Minnehaha before departing for the Isles of the Blessed. In July 1843 he married Frances Appleton; her father presented the couple with Craigie House as his wedding gift. Mrs. James Bowdoin, for whose late husband the college had been named, contributed $1,000 to endow a professorship in modern languages (only the fourth in the United States), andon the strength of Longfellows translation of a Horace ode that had impressed one of his fathers colleagues among Bowdoin trusteescollege authorities offered the position to the young graduate at his 1825 commencement on the condition that he prepare for the post by visiting Europe and becoming accomplished in Romance languages. Learn. He also wrote novels and translated Dante's "Divine Comedy" into English. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Voices of the Night. Haiku. What type of household did Longfellow grow up in? 198 likes. Chamber Music This page intentionally left blank CHAMBER MUSIC A Listener's Guide JAMES M. KELLER 1 2011 3 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. The professorship was not created and Longfellow agreed to continue teaching at Bowdoin. To a Child, one of the most popular poems of the book, expressed paternal tenderness toward his first son, while the sonnet Dante looked toward a later stage of literary productivity. For later critics, however, the answer to Lowells question has often been a resounding Yes! In the atmosphere of disillusionment attending world warsand especially in Herbert S. Gormans disparaging 1926 biographyLongfellow became an easy scapegoat for everything judged wrong with Puritan, Victorian, Brahmin, genteel, sentimental, and racist evasions of the grim realities of life. The next decade proved one of leave-takings for Longfellow but also of exceptional accomplishment. In 1835, saddened by the death of his first wife, whom he had married in 1831, he settled at Heidelberg, where he fell under the influence of German Romanticism. The recent graduate was asked to become the first professor, with the understanding that he should be given a period of time in which to travel and study in Europe. [122] Poe's reputation increased as a critic, however, and he later publicly accused Longfellow of plagiarism in what Poe biographers call "The Longfellow War". The Warning, written last but drawn in part from his Harvard Phi Beta Kappa poem, concluded this slim volume with the image of a poor, blind Samson in this land capable someday of shaking the pillars of this Commonweal, / Till the vast Temple of our liberties / A shapeless mass of wreck and rubbish lies. The book pleased abolitionist readers such as Longfellows good friend Charles Sumner and the New England Anti-Slavery Tract Society, which Longfellow allowed to reprint and distribute the volume free of royalties; it puzzled other friends such as Hawthorne, however, and called attention to its authors lively interest in public issues that rarely found direct expression in his poetry. [108], 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. Other than being a poet of great repute; Longfellow was also an educationist, who was a professor at his alma mater Bowdoin College and latter at the Harvard College. from. Longfellows long poem The Courtship of Miles Standish (1858) was another great popular success. [54] 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". Damaetas 4. Classic and contemporary poems for the holiday season. Henry is an American . Wadsworth-Longfellow House, 487 Congress Street, Portland, was built by Longfellow's grandfather, General Pelage Wadsworth, in 1785-86. Lewiss first love was poetry, and it enabled him to write the prose for which he is remembered. Even if time has proved him something less than the master poet he never claimed to be, Longfellow made pioneering contributions to American literary life by exemplifying the possibility of a successful authorial career, by linking American poetry to European traditions beyond England, and by developing a surprisingly wide readership for Romantic poetry. Life and Fame. [59] The New England Anti-Slavery Association, however, was satisfied enough with the collection to reprint it for further distribution. Both the poem and its singsong metre have been frequent objects of parody. Longfellows immense popularity helped raise the status of poetry in his country, and he played an important part in bringing European cultural traditions to American audiences. Messenger immediately put Longfellow `` among the first American to completely translate Dante Alighieri 's Divine Comedy and one! Exalts and exocitizes Native Americans and assumes the obliteration of indigenous ways of?... Often used allegory in his last major prose composition, Kavanagh, a group of students with Federalist leanings 1882... Switzerland, including his son Thomas Gold Appleton how many languages did henry wadsworth longfellow speak 83 ] he joined the Peucinian society a. 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