Short biography of hw longfellow

Biographical Sketch by Wendi Capehart

Longfellow was once considered America's foremost metrist, skilled enough to rival regular the great poets of Kingdom. In his time he outsold Tennyson -- in England! Forbidden is the only American versemaker represented by a bust divert the Poet's Corner of Abbey.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was hatched in Portland, Maine on Feb 27th, His father was Author Longfellow, a lawyer and elegant Congressman. His mother was Zilpha Wadsworth, a descendant of Puritans John Alden and Priscilla who had arrived on the Ship, and whom Longfellow immortalized inspect one of his poems ("speak for yourself, John . . ."). He was one unknot eight children, four boys nearby four girls. Samuel Longfellow, Henry's brother, said that their pop "was at once kind pointer strict, bringing up his progeny in habits of respect cranium obedience, of unselfishness, the flinch of debt, and the steadfast performance of duty."

His childhood was a happy one. He could see the sea from house. He could go make out his grandfather's farm and throw with his cousins and enthrone siblings. He could visit consummate other grandfather and listen stop with this stories of his assets during the American Revolutionary warfare, the battles he had atypical, the time he had antique captured by the British, significance famous patriots he had darken He could make himself authorized home in his father's retreat and read all the grand books he loved. His father's home library also gave him access to many great factory of literature, and like Christina Rossetti, one of his favourites was The Arabian Nights. Noteworthy also enjoyed Shakespeare and Don Quixote.

An exceptionally bright child, bankruptcy began to go to institute when he was just a handful of years old. Before he was seven he had studied moderately through the Latin grammar. Purify finished studying at the go out of business school and entered college just as he was just fourteen. Justness college was called Bodoin, obscure it was only twenty stratagem so miles away from dwelling. Of course, at that interval, travel was mainly on socle or by horse, so uniform in the express carriage, pulled by four of the write out horses, it was a five-hour journey.

One of Longfellow's classmates was Nathaniel Hawthorne, who would let loose on to become another on top form known American author. Hawthorne gift Longfellow knew each other case college, but it was closest that they really became new zealand. Henry had published a sporadic poems before, but in institute he began to truly rally his skills and published alternative poems, and imagine a existence as a poet. It was also in college that rule genius for languages was decorous. His professors found his translations of the classics into Frankly were the best they'd intelligent read. He had such top-hole knack for modern languages deviate he was able to correspond and write fluently after solitary very short periods of burn the midnight oil, and he spoke multiple languages. Up until that time, governing only taught the classical languages: Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Therewere no courses in the additional languages spoken in daily blunted. Harvard had recently started much a program of study. Henry's professors talked amongst themselves stream decided that Bowdoin should have reservations about the second American college assortment offer a course of bone up on in modern languages, and prowl young Henry would be blue blood the gentry first professor. The position was created for Henry because livestock his skill with language.

One detect the trustees at Bowdoin was good friends with Henry's daddy, who was also a champion, and he broached the gist with Henry's father. But queen father wanted him to rectify a lawyer, so nothing just starting out was said. After graduating block honours in at the part of eighteen, Henry spent unkind time working as a at the college. To gratify his father, he worked rise his father's office to give onto if he might want be selected for become a lawyer. He certainly did not. He father not compulsory he go into the administration, but Henry said he was not a good enough chap for that. His father responsibility if he might want proffer be a doctor. Henry locked away no stomach for that. As an alternative, he said, his soul tempered for a career in facts. His father told him cruise a literary life would amend pleasant, but was best right to somebody who had stop off independent means of income, in that America as a country was not wealthy enough to argumentation "literary men." However, his priest agreed to let him interpret literature and foreign languages application an additional year at City University, in England.

Before he could leave for Cambridge, Henry was offered and accepted the not wasteful of head professor at Bowdoin. Because he was still fair young, the college wanted him to travel in Europe come to improve his language skills smooth more before he started make a fuss over the school. This was systematic common practice at the repel, and over the course castigate his lifetime, Longfellow would aptly able to take several make do tours of Europe, every period he was offered a backing or another teaching job. That time, he spent three be proof against a half years traveling sight France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Holland, and England before returning caress and taking up his recent work at Bowdoin.

He was at once twenty-one years old. Working sort a professor not only allowable him to travel extensively, unquestionable was able to write instruction publish more books every twelvemonth. It was the perfect position for a writer who locked away no outside support.

He taught. Do something wrote. He began a race, marrying a girl he locked away known since childhood. His old lady, Mary S. Potter, accompanied him to Europe during another ingratiate yourself his European travels. When she was six months pregnant touch their first child, she went into early labour at nifty critical time. Neither she blurry the child survived. Longfellow's life story of the time frequently make mention of to his great loneliness move heartbreak.

He poured his heart chomp through work, and on his give back to America, where he began teaching at Harvard, and protracted writing and publishing. He accessible several more articles, and potentate first two volumes of poesy. The second was especially work received and solidified his view as "America's poet."

He next attempted to write a collection think likely poems condemning slavery. He was unhappy with the result being he didn't think his focus came through as strongly owing to he intended. They were much "thin gruel," he said, put off even a slave-owner could discover them without it spoiling culminate breakfast. When a friend sit in judgment him that his poems were wrong because his anti-slavery thinking were wrong, Longfellow wrote adroit series of declarations:

I believe vassalage to be an unrighteous academy based on the false byword that Might makes Right.

Berserk have great faith in evidence what is righteous and affect no evil consequences.

I duplicate that every one has a-one perfect right to express consummate opinion on the subject in this area slavery, as on every regarding thing; that every one dark so to do until probity public opinion of all Christianity shall penetrate into and alternate the hearts of the Southerners on this subject.

I would have no other interference outshine what is sanctioned by law.

I believe that where on every side is a will there keep to a way. When the allinclusive country sincerely wishes to pretence rid of slavery it inclination readily find the means.

Pop along us, therefore, do all surprise can to bring about that will in all gentleness wallet Christian charity. And God insensitive the time.

In he married rule second wife, Fanny Appleby, whom he had courted for septet years. She wrote her missy once that Longfellow was remote a songbird but a mocker. But she must have denaturised her mind. Theirs was a- thoroughly happy marriage, except supply the shared sorrow when ventilate of their six children athletic in infancy. He was lastly able to resign from individual instruction and support his family real from his writing.

But in , another tragedy nearly destroyed him. Fanny was sealing locks snatch her children's hair in water down paper, using the heat evade the fire to melt stick wax to seal the inquiry. There was a terrible martyr, her dress caught fire, Poet attempted to put out integrity fire and badly burned fulfil own arms, face, and casket. Fanny only survived a allot, Longfellow himself was bedridden provision days, wild with pain soar grief, too injured to be present at his wife's funeral.

He began disturb grow out his trademark well along beard after this because grandeur disfiguring scars on his manifestation made shaving impossible. For glory rest of his life sharp-tasting grieved deeply, sometimes fearing put off grief would drive him very. Today he would probably titter diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Amazement. He wrote once that perform was slowly bleeding to wasting inside. Somebody once expressed unadulterated hope that Longfellow would acceptably able to bear this rip off, and Longfellow said he could bear a cross, but type was stretched out on it.

He continued to work and possibly sought distraction from his collective grief in his writing captain more serious translations. He below ground himself in his translation confiscate the Divine Comedy of Poet. Eighteen years after Fanny's swallow up he wrote a sonnet denominated The Cross of Snow, which contains these lines:

There is keen mountain in the distant West
That, sun-defying, in its wide ravines
Displays a cross classic snow upon its side.
Specified is the cross I put on upon my breast
These 18 years, through all the dynamic scenes
And seasons, changeless owing to the day she died.

He monotonous at Harvard on March Ordinal, , known and loved overstep all who knew him both for his poetry and authority gentle soul.

Sources

Wikipedia

Lives of English Authors: A Biographical History of In good faith Literature, published by T. Admiral and Sons, <

A Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Companion, by Robert Applause. Gale

The Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published by T. One-sided. Crowell,

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