Longfellow, H. w．
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882)
Poet. Born on February 27, 1807 in Portland, Maine, into a family of lawyers. He entered Beaudoin College in 1822 and was a classmate of Hawthorne. After graduation, I traveled to France, Spain, Italy and Germany to study the languages ??and literature of these countries. In 1836, he began teaching language and literature at Harvard University, dedicated to introducing European culture and the works of romantic writers, and became an important figure in the literary and social circles of Cambridge, the cultural center of New England. In 1839, he published his first collection of poems, "Night Songs", including the famous "Hymn of the Night", "Ode to Life", "Light of the Stars" and other beautiful lyric poems. In 1841, he published a collection of poems, "Songs and Others," which included story poems such as "Armored Skeletons" and "The Disaster of the Venus", as well as narrative poems that contained simple philosophy such as "The Village Blacksmith" and "Climb to Higher Places." The poem is full of hardworking spirit and optimism. These two collections of poems became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and he became famous as a poet. Longfellow published a collection of poems, "The Belfry of Bruges and Others" in 1845, which was famous for its collection of excellent articles such as "The Arsenal at Springfield", "The Bridge", "Nuremberg" and "The Belfry at Bruges". Be praised by others. "By the Sea and the Fireside" (1849) includes the "Dedicatory" in which the poet announces his creative intentions to readers, and the long poem "The Building of the Ship" that celebrates the founding of the Union through the image of shipbuilding.
Longfellow's major poems include three long narrative poems, or "popular epics": "Evangeline" (1847), "The Song of Hiawatha" and "Myles Standish's The Proposal" (1858). In 1854, he resigned from his teaching position at Harvard University and devoted himself to creation. The following year he published "The Song of Hiawatha". This is a long poem carefully conceived based on Indian legends. It describes the heroic achievements of the Indian leader Hiawatha in defeating the enemy in his life, as well as his important contributions such as ending tribal melee, teaching people to grow corn, cleaning up rivers, and eliminating diseases. This is the first epic poem describing Indians in the history of American literature, but the material of the poem mainly comes from the works of Schoolcraft, and the author lacks direct life experience; the rhythm of the poem completely imitates the Finnish epic "Kalevala" ", although it was praised by readers at the time, it was criticized by some later critics. From 1843, the Longfellows spent 17 years of happy family life in the secluded Craigie Villa. Unfortunately, his wife was burned to death in a fire in 1861, which has always made him extremely sad. In order to get rid of the mental burden, he devoted himself to the translation of Dante's "Divine Comedy" and also wrote 6 sonnets about Dante, which are his best poems. The Tale of the Roadhouse (1863) is loosely modeled after Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The three-part poetic drama named "Christ" was completed in 1872.
Longfellow's creative work in his later years was highly respected and he was awarded honorary doctorates by Oxford University and Cambridge University respectively. On his 75th birthday, schools across the United States celebrated. Longfellow died on March 24, 1882. He was the first American poet to be honored with a bust in the Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey in London.
Longfellow created a large number of lyric poems, ballads, narrative poems and poetic dramas throughout his life. His poems are widely read in the United States, praised in Europe, and translated into more than 20 languages. Since the 20th century, his poetic reputation has declined sharply, and his status has changed so much that it is rare in the history of American literature.