  "Talk not of wasted affection; affection never was wasted." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was an American poet, one of the most popular and celebrated of his time. Born in Portland, Maine, Longfellow received his education at Bowdoin College, where he was a classmate of Nathaniel Hawthorne. After graduating in 1825, he traveled in Europe, returning to teach modern languages at Bowdoin until 1835. In 1836 he began teaching at Harvard University. After retiring from Harvard in 1854, Longfellow devoted himself almost exclusively to writing poetry. In his words: "Music is the universal language of mankind -- poetry their universal pastime and delight." Longfellow's work began to gain fame with his first volume of verse, "Voices of the Night", published in 1839. Many of his written words are familiar ... his later works include 'The Wreck of the Hesperus', the well-known 'The Village Blacksmith' and 'Paul Revere's Ride', as well as his narrative poems reflecting American themes: 'Evangeline' (1847), 'The Song of Hiawatha' (1855), and 'The Courtship of Miles Standish' (1858).  Longfellow's poetry is recognized for its familiar themes, simple ideas, and clear, almost musical language. Despite the fact that many modern critics criticize his work as being overly sentimental, Longfellow has always been one of the most popular of American poets, mainly because of his simple style of writing, and because of his role in popularizing American historical themes. His writings have been described as instrumental in creating a public audience for poetry in the United States.Perhaps no other American poet has written so much and been so popular. The village smithy under the spreading chestnut tree, the midnight ride of Paul Revere, the Indian prince Hiawatha in his birch canoe ... all these images were created by Longfellow, and became a sort of American mythology. that break upon the idle seashore of the mind". Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 'The Song of Hiawatha'  Longfellow's narrative verse 'The Song of Hiawatha' sold 50,000 copies following its release in 1855.
The poem became very popular ... for the first time in literature, Indian themes gained recognition. The appeal of 'Hiawatha' for generations of children has given it a place in literary history.Hiawatha, a legendary chieftain of the Iroquois, supposedly lived in about 1570. He is credited with having unified the Five Nations of the Iroquois for their protection against the stronger Algonquin people. According to legend, Hiawatha employed miraculous powers to protect his people from the evil forces of nature. He also instructed the Iroquois in the arts of medicine, agriculture, and navigation.
We have several other famous pieces by Longfellow, for your reading pleasure. These are considerably shorter works, so you can access them directly on these pages:  When it became necessary to remove "the spreading chestnut tree" of Brattle Street in Cambridge, England, which Longfellow had written about in his 'Village Blacksmith', the children of that town contributed their pennies to build a chair out of wood from the tree, and gave it to Longfellow.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died on March 24, 1882. In 1884, a bust of the author was placed in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey in London, England. He was the first American to be so honored. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |