Henry Ford, the automobile magnate, once stated that the "world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward” (Daily Quotations Network). Man has always struggled with uncontrollable aspects of his environment, but his ability to overcome these seemingly indomitable obstacles has earned recognition from numerous classical writers and poets, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. “One of the real American Poets of yesterday” (Montiero, Preface), Longfellow elaborates on man’s perpetual struggle with life and nature in his poetry. In “A Psalm of Life,” “The Village Blacksmith,” and “The Rainy Day,” Longfellow explores many facets of man’s unyielding will.
Born into a prominent family on February 27, 1807, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow grew up in the bustling town of Portland, Maine. His parents Stephen and Zilpah Longfellow provided a strong, but refined, Puritan background, while encouraging Henry to excel in academics (Wagenknecht 2). Longfellow’s education began early, when he was enrolled in an “old-fashioned ‘dame’ school” (Wagenknecht 4) at the age of three. His schooling continued in 1815 with his entrance into the Portland Academy. At the age of fourteen, Longfellow entered Bowdoin College where his academic brilliance earned him a position of fourth in a graduating class of thirty-eight (Williams, Preface). Stephen Longfellow encouraged his son to pursue a stable career in law, but Longfellow’s love of words led him to accept the “newly established professorship of modern languages at Bowdoin College” (Wagenknecht 3). He traveled extensively in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany to refine his language skills in preparation for his six-year long professorship.
Harvard University offered Longfellow the "Smith Professorship of French and Spanish" in 1834 and he, again, traveled to Europe (Wagenknecht 5). His wife of four years, Mary Storer Potter, accompanied him on the trip. While they were in the Netherlands, Mary "suffered a miscarriage" and died weeks later from the extreme trauma (Wagenknecht 5). Longfellow spent the winter grieving, but met his second wife, Fanny Appleton, in Switzerland the next spring. They were married in the summer of 1843, and Fanny bore nine children before her tragic death on July 9, 1861. He grieved tremendously for his w...
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...l five lines are meant to rouse the spirits of men and end needless self-reproach. The poet assures his audience that "behind the clouds is the sun still shining," suggesting that suffering will eventually lead to reward (12). Longfellow stresses the idea that "into each life some rain must fall;" men must experience sorrow to appreciate joy (14).
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Arvin, Newton. Longfellow: His Life and Works. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. 1962.
Montiero, George. The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1975.
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Wagenknecht, Edward. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Portrait of an American Humanist. New York:
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__________ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, His Poetry and Prose. New York: Ungar. 1986.
Williams, Cecil B. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. New Haven: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1964.
Delbaere-Garant, Jeannie. "Variations on Magical Realism". Magical Realism Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkison Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham" Duke U.P., 1995. 249-263.
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Faris, Wendy B. Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Remystification of Narrative. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2004. 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. 21
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