January 9, 2020

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an illustrious 19th century American novelist and poet.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Quick Facts

Profile

  • Birth Name: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  • AKA: Henry Longfellow
  • Date of Birth: February 27, 1807
  • Place of Birth: Portland, Maine, USA
  • Zodiac Sign: Pisces
  • Date of Death: March 24, 1882
  • Died at Age: 75 years
  • Place of Death: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
  • Place of Burial: Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
  • Cause of Death: Peritonitis
  • Ethnicity: White
  • Nationality: American
  • Father: Stephen Longfellow (1776–1849)
  • Mother: Zilpah (Wadsworth) Longfellow (1778–1851)
  • Siblings:
  1. Eldest Brother: Stephen Wadsworth Longfellow (1805–1850)
  2. Younger Sister: Elizabeth Wadsworth Longfellow (1808–1829)
  3. Younger Sister: Anne Wadsworth Pierce (1810–1901)
  4. Younger Sister: Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow (1814–1901)
  5. Younger Sister: Mary Greenleaf (Longfellow) (1816–1901)
  6. Younger Sister: Ellen Longfellow (1818–1834)
  7. Youngest Brother: Reverend Samuel Longfellow (1819–1892)
  • Spouses:
  1. Mary Storer Potter (b. 1812–d. 1835; m. 1831 until her demise)
  2. Frances Elizabeth Appleton (b. 1817–d. 1861; m. 1843 until her demise)
  • Children:
  1. Stillborn: - - - (October 5, 1835- October 5, 1835)
  2. Son: Charles Appleton Longfellow (1844–1893)
  3. Son: Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow (1845–1921)
  4. Daughter: Fanny Longfellow (1847–1848)
  5. Daughter: Alice Mary Longfellow (1850–1928)
  6. Daughter: Edith Dana Longfellow (1853–1915)
  7. Daughter: Anne Allegra Longfellow (1855–1934)
  • Alma Mater: Bowdoin College
  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is known for: composing melodious poems that frequently revolve around mythology and legend.
  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is criticized for: mimicking the English Romantic tradition.
  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was influenced by: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805), Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825), Novalis (Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg) (1772–1801), E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776 –1822), Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787-1862), Washington Irving (1783–1859), William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878), James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851), Walt Whitman (1819–1892), and Emily Dickinson (1830 –1886).
  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s works inspired: NA
  • Awards:
  1. Honorary doctorate of laws from Harvard in 1859.

Quotes

“The shades of night were falling fast,
As through an Alpine village passed
A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice,
A banner with the strange device,
Excelsior!”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Excelsior (1842)

Major Works

  • Coplas de Don Jorge Manrique (1833)
  • Outre-Mer (1835)
  • Voices of the Night (1839)
  • Hyperion (1839)
  • Ballads and Other Poems (1842)
  • Poems on Slavery (1842)
  • The Spanish Student (1843)
  • Poets and Poetry of Europe (1844)
  • The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems (1845)
  • Poems (1845)
  • The Waif (1846)
  • The Estray (1846)
  • Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847)
  • The Seaside and the Fireside (1850)
  • Kavanagh (1851)
  • The Golden Legend (1851)
  • The Song of Hiawatha (1855)
  • Poems the "Blue and Gold" edition (1857)
  • The Courtship of Miles Standish and Other Poems (1858)
  • Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863)
  • Household Poems (1865)
  • Flower-de-Luce (1866)
  • Poetical Works (1866)
  • Dante's Divine Comedy (1867)
  • The New England Tragedies (1868)
  • The Divine Tragedy (1871)
  • Christus: A Mystery (1871)
  • Three Books of Song (1872)
  • Aftermath (1873)
  • The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1873)
  • Poetical Works, the "Household" edition (1874)
  • The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems (1875)
  • Complete Poetical Works, the "Centennial" edition (1876)
  • Poems of Places (1877)
  • Keramos and Other Poems (1878)
  • Ultima Thule (1880)
  • In the Harbor (1882)

Works Did You Know?

  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was the second of eight children born to Stephen Longfellow and Zilpah (Wadsworth) Longfellow.
  • Longfellow's father was a lawyer and congressman.
  • Longfellow's first wife, Mary Storer Potter, was his childhood friend from Portland.
  • Both of his wives died tragically: his first wife died from a miscarriage in 1835, whereas his second wife died in a fire in 1861.
  • Longfellow enrolled at Bowdoin College in 1822 along with his eldest brother Stephen.
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne was his classmate and lifelong friend.
  • After its replacement in 1906, the West Boston Bridge was renamed as Longfellow Bridge.
  • In March, 15 2007, the United States Postal Service issued a 39-cent stamp to celebrate the 200th birth anniversary of Longfellow.
  • Towards the later years, Longfellow led a very silent and reclusive life.
  • He contributed towards the first American translation of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.
  • Although Longfellow was the leading poet of his time, during the early half of the 20th century his importance diminished and he was considered as a minor poet.
  • He is the only American poet for whom a bust was placed in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey in London.
  • His first poem was published in the Portland Gazette on November 17, 1820.
  • Due to Longfellow’s immense popularity, his face was used by many companies to promote their products.
  • The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) occurred during his lifetime.
  • He was a professor at Harvard University from 1836 to 1854.
  • He was a poet of romantic tradition following many trends of the English Romantic movement.

Media Gallery?

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Mary Storer Potter

Frances Elizabeth Appleton


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