Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: (February 27, 1807 - March 24, 1882) is probably the best known American poet. Henry was the son of Stephen, a lawyer, and Zilpah (Wadsworth). His mother’s father, Peleg Wadsworth, was a brigadier general in the Revolutionary War

Henry was born in Portland, Maine and, despite the picture to the left, had blue eyes and fair hair. He was the third of seven siblings, Stephen V, Elizabeth Wadsworth, Anne, Alexander, Mary, Ellen, and Samuel. Henry was named after his uncle, Henry Wadsworth, a naval officer who died on the fire-ship Intrepid.

At 22 Longfellow was appointed to the first Bowdoin College chair of modern languages.

In 1831 at the age of 24, he married Mary Storer Potter (1812-1834) , daughter of Judge Potter. Mary died in Rotterdam, during Henry’s second European visit.

From 1836 to 1854 Longfellow was a professor at Harvard. He resigned in 1854 to dedicate himself entirely to writing poetry. The same year, he began The Song of Hiawatha.

Seven years after Mary’s death (1843) Longfellow married Frances Appleton (1817-1861), daughter of Nathan Appleton a wealth merchant. Fany died of burns when lighted sealing wax fell on her dress. Longfellow tried to rescue his wife by smothering the flames with a rug only to receive serious burns to his hands and face. Longfellow later grew a beard to cover the facial scars and because of the difficulty in shaving due to the scars.

Henry Longfellow was the first American poet to have his bust placed in the Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey.

Longfellow published over twenty books, and wrote more than 150 poems. The following list is not complete

Aftermath

A Psalm Of Life

Voices of the Night

1838

The Arrow and the Song

The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems

1845

The Arsenal at Springfield

Autumn Within

The Belfrey of Bruges

Belisarius

The Bridge

The Challenge of Thor

The Children’s Hour

Birds of Passage, Flight the Second

1863

Curfew

The Cross of Snow

The Day is Done

The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems

1845

Daylight and Moonlight

Drinking Song

Endymion

The Evening Star

Footsteps of Angels

Haroun Al Raschid

Helen of Tyre

Holidays

Hymn to the Night Voices of the Night

1838

The Jewish Cemetery at Newport

Jugurtha

King Trisanku

Loss and Gain

In the Harbor: Ultima Thule Part II

1882

Maidenhood

The Meeting

Memories

Moonlight

My Lost Youth

Nature

A Book of Sonnets

1875

The Norman Baron

O Ship of State

The Occultation of Orion

Old St. David’s at Radnor

Paul Revere’s Ride (The Landlord’s Tale)

Tales of a Wayside Inn

1863

The Poets

The Poet’s Calendar

The Rainy Day Ballads and Other Poems

1841

The Reaper And The Flowers

Voices of the Night

1838

The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face

Seaweed

The Skeleton in Armor

The Slave’s Dream

Snowflakes

Something Left Undone

The Song of Hiawatha

The Song of Hiawatha

1855

The Sound of the Sea

Sundown

Tegner’s Drapa

Thangbrand the Priest

There Was a Little Girl

The Three Kings

The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls

Ultima Thule

1880

The Village Blacksmith

Ballads and Other Poems

1841

Wapentake

The Warden of the Cinque Ports

Birds of Passage

The White Tzar

The Wreck of the Hesperus

Ballads and Other Poems

1841

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