Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet born in 1807 in Portland, Maine. He showed an early talent for writing and had his first poem published at age 13. He attended Bowdoin College and later taught languages there before accepting a professorship at Harvard. Longfellow was a prolific and popular poet who wrote many famous works including Evangeline and Song of Hiawatha. He lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts for many years and continued writing until his death in 1882. Longfellow was honored in the Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey and was the first American to have a commemorative stamp issued in his honor.
2. was born on 27
February 1807, in the
city of Portland, Maine
To the lawyer Stephen
Longfellow and his
wife Zilpah née
Wadsworth.
3. Earlyon young Henry
knew he wanted to be
a poet;
he was a fast learner
and loved to write
stories and poems.
The Portland Gazette
printed his first poem
at the age of thirteen.
4. Secondary- the
Portland Academy;
Tertiary -Bowdoin
College in
Brunswick, Maine(182
2- 1825)
There he was offered
a professorship.
5. The college had
advised him to further
study languages
Longfellow immersed
himself in the
literature of
Europe, and in
mastering half a
dozen languages.
6. Upon arrival back in
America he settled at
Bowdoin to teach
modern languages
including French and
Italian from 1829-
1835.
He also wrote many
textbooks for the
college.
7. In1831 Longfellow
married Mary Storer
Potter (1813-1835).
On his next trip to
Europe, this time with
his wife, Mary
suddenly died in
Rotterdam,
after having a
miscarriage
8. After arriving home from
this second trip in 1836,
he took on the Smith
Professorship of
Modern Languages with
Harvard University in
Cambridge,
Massachusetts, a
position he held until
1854.
9. On 13 July 1843
Longfellow married
Francis Elizabeth
"Fanny" Appleton
(1817-1861) with
whom he had six
children.
10. Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow lived here
from 1837 to 1775. The
house is clapperboard
colonial.
The National Park
Service restored the
garden to its colonial
style, emphasizing the
formality of the original
layout.
11. While teaching full
time, Longfellow
continued his
prodigious output of
poetry that was warmly
received in North
America and Europe.
After resigning from
teaching in
1854, Longfellow was
able to put all his
energies into writing.
12. 1861 Fanny’s dress
suddenly caught fire
from a candle and she
was engulfed in flames.
Henry tried desperately
to smother the flames,
suffering burns to his
hands and face, to no
avail.
Fanny soon succumbed
to her wounds.
13. Longfellow's grief
changed him forever;
his flowing white
beard covered his
burn marks.
14. In1868 Longfellow
made his last trip
to Europe.
The Longfellow
Family, Venice, 29
May 1869.
A.
Sorgato, photograp
her.
15. Queen Victoria invited
him to tea (1868)
Hereceived honorary
doctoral degrees from
Cambridge and Oxford
Universities
16. In 1884 he was the first
citizen of the United
States to be honored in
Poets' Corner of
Westminster Abbey in
London, England.
His marble bust now
stands among the
monuments to other
world-renowned authors
and poets
Dickens, Kipling, Brow
ning
17. 1855
Song of Hiawatha
as a tribute
to North American
Indians.
18. 1861
translation of Dante
Alighieri’s
“Divine Comedy”.
Longfellow was the first
American to translate
Dante.
19. The Spanish Student. A The Seaside and the
Play in Three Acts (1843), Fireside (poetry, 1850),
Poets and Poetry of The Golden Legend
Europe (translations, (dramatic poem, 1851),
1844), "The Children's Hour"
The Belfry of Bruges and (1859),
Other Poems (1845),
Evangeline: A Tale of Christus: A Mystery
Acadie (epic poem, 1847), (1872),
"Aftermath" (1873),
Kavanagh: A Tale (1849), The Masque of Pandora
and Other Poems (1875).