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A Short Analysis of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's
A Short Analysis of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's
Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A Fellow’s Long Worth
How does one describe a poet when he has already described himself with his own words? Although Henry Wadsworth Longfellow isn’t popular, he is such a poet. As described by Arnold Bennett, Longfellow is "the chief minor poet of the English language." Among a harsh lineup of critics, however, they claimed he fell short of literary. This is quite the contrary.
Longfellow attended Bowdoin college, near Portland, Maine where he was born and raised. The college offered him the newly formed position as chair of modern languages. "Two things are striking about this event: the informality of the academic approach to language studies and the obvious natural gift that Longfellow possessed" (Fuller 3). Traveling throughout Europe before settling into his new job (as well as during numerous trips after), Longfellow practically learned the languages by osmosis. He could speak splendid amounts of French, Spanish, Italian, German and some Scandinavian.
After leaving Bowdoin, he later taught at Harvard University. At this time, his pen began to constantly scratch prose and poetry. After almost twenty years as a professor, Longfellow retired and devoted himself to his craft of poetry.
After tasting random stanzas and meters of Longfellow’s work, it is easy to identify his tone: uplifting, positive and somewhat glowing. Along with his shorter pieces that evoke positive feelings, Longfellow also tells stories with his longer poetry. He used lyrical verses to describe, weave and introduce new characters or feelings. From the poem "The Skeleton in Armor" to "Paul Revere’s Ride," Longfellow opened up worlds with his words, whether as real as the Revolutionary War, or as mystic as Nordic my...
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...t, overall, passion was underneath his skin. As he wrote in "Michael Angelo: A Fragment," "The fever to accomplish some great work that will not let us sleep. I must go on until I die."
It is unfair that Longfellow isn’t praised more as an American poet, especially with a backpack heavy with accomplishments. His hike through the literary world was rugged, but his perseverance left readers with kind, unassuming meter and lyric.
Works Cited
Fuller, Edmund. Introduction. Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1967. 1-13.
Untermeyer, Louis. Introduction. The American Poets: Longfellow. By Henry Wadwsworth Longfellow. New York: The Heritage Press, 1943. ix-xv.
Wagenknecht, Edward. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: His Poetry and Prose. New York: The Ungar Publishing Company, 1986.
In Paul Revere’s letter to Jeremy Belknap, he speaks of several men that help him get through his journey and he tells about the honorable things that they do. He speaks of Dr. Warren, Col. Conant, Mr. Daws, Doctor Prescott, and Mr. Devens that all helped him get to concord and succeed his mission. They were men that rode with him, helped him with British officers and helped him warn people along the way and Longfellow doesn't ever speak of these
When he was fifteen years old, his mother died from appendicitis. From fifteen years of age to his college years, he lived in an all-white neighborhood. From 1914-1917, he shifted from many colleges and academic courses of study as well as he changed his cultural identity growing up. He studied physical education, agriculture, and literature at a total of six colleges and universities from Wisconsin to New York. Although he never completed a degree, his educational pursuits laid the foundation for his writing career.
MacLeish, Archibald. “Selected Poetry of Ogden Nash: 650 rhymes, verses, lyrics, and poems.” New York: Black Dog & Leventhal: xix-xii. 1995. Print. 15 Apr. 2014.
Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. 3rd ed. Ed. Helen Vendler. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,
“Leaders have always been generalists. Tomorrow’s leaders will, very likely, have begun life as specialists, but to mature as leaders they must sooner or later climb out of the trenches of specialization and rise above the boundaries that separate the various segments of society.” (Gardner, 1990, pg. 159).
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls”. Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2008. 196. Print.
Ferguson, Margaret W., Salter, Mary J., and Stallworthy, Jon. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. fifth ed. N.p.: W.W. Norton, 2005. 2120-2121. 2 Print.
One way Longfellow establishes his message is through the personification of snow and the ship that the skipper was sailing. Personifying the snow that “fell hissing in the brine” (line 23) contributes towards the central theme of the poem. A hissing noise makes the scene seem more deadly and dangerous than people would think it is. It resembles the hidden imminent dangers that are present if people get overconfident. The hissing sound of the snow
The era of the American Revolution was a time of great nationalism, hope, and unity. People who were once only colonists were now citizens of a new and exciting nation. As the years wore on, however, the citizens of the United States were faced with the reality of building a country. The nation strove to find a place for itself, to become secure against the power of the rest of the world. Industry grew along with the population, but what the new country gained in strength it lost in spirit. Regional tensions emerged as well as burning political issues. In the aftermath of the civil war the still young nation attempted to regain this nationalism that was once the strength of the country. One area this attempt was prominent in was literature. Two poets specifically sought to find a national mythology by examining what American's value and why it is necessary to pass it on through tradition. The poems by John Greenleaf Whittier and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow are a call for preserving the roots found in the land of America and in the heart of an American.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Robert Browning’s Poetry.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
Waggoner, Hyatt H. "A Writer of Poems: The Life and Work of Robert Frost," The Times Literary Supplement. April 16, 1971, 433-34.
Frost, Robert. New Enlarged Anthology of Robert Frost's Poems. New York: Washington Square Press, 1971.
“Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear, and with a manly heart.” This is a saying Longfellow read in Germany where his wife died. The words gave him hope for the future. It inspired him to want to write a series of psalms. The first one, “A Psalm of Life” written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is an uplifting poem that compels us to feel hope for the future. After reading it the first time it had a powerful effect on me. Surprisingly, he wrote this poem few months after his first wife died. Longfellow took his wife’s death and interpreted it as a sign to look at life as fleeting and it passes quickly. I feel that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, after his wife’s death, had an optimistic view on life in the poem, “A Psalm of Life”.
Auden, W. H. The Collected Poetry of W. H. Auden. New York: Random House. 1945.
... emotion, nature, and imagination which he used as effective tools in an exploration of humanity and memory, in hopes to reveal the true temperament of the human individual, or the search for the definitive nature, man, and so goes the quest of the romantics, and their focus on the individual; and thus “Nature will not stop writing” (Bloom 131).