Name: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Occupation: Poet
Date of Birth: February 27th 1807
Place of Birth: Portland, Maine USA
Interesting fact:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was the first American to translate Dante’s Divine Comedy.
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About the Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is one of the most celebrated poets in the world. He was born, raised and lived in America but he had a connection with Europe that would lead him to study and follow the European literary style as well as study numerous languages. His family sent him to a private academy to learn literature and languages but even at a young age his favorite pastime was writing. He was the second child in a family of eight children. His father was a succesful politician.
At thirteen-years-old Mr. Longfellow had his first poem published in the Portland Gazette, and although he overheard a conversation where his father said the poem was terrible, it didn’t stop him from continuing to pursue his passion in writing. By fourteen he passed the entrance exams to attend college, but he was so young they had him attend the local college with his older brother for the first year. He was a dedicated student who after his college studies travelled to Europe to study more. There he found another passion in languages. During his lifetime he would master seven. He published numerous foreign language textbooks that earned him a postion teaching at Harvard.
After marrying Frances Appleton and having six children, Longfellow gave up his professor position at Harvard and focused on his writing, he was forty-seven. During this time of focus he would produce his most famous works of poetry. His world wide fame grew his entire life until he died at the age of seventy-two.
Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
The Rainy Day
The Children’s Hour
The Village Blacksmith
Paul Revere’s Ride
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Stay
Sundown
The Leap of Roushan Beg
The Skeleton in Armor
There Was a Little Girl