Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) was an American poet and professor whose narrative poems, including “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “The Song of Hiawatha,” became widely read.

Paul Revere’s Ride: A narrative poem by Longfellow that dramatizes Paul Revere’s midnight ride before the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Its memorable account shows how Longfellow reshaped a historical episode into national legend.
Portland, Maine: A coastal city in Maine where Longfellow was born in 1807. His New England birthplace remained part of the regional identity associated with his poetry.
Nathaniel Hawthorne: An American novelist and short-story writer known for works including “The Scarlet Letter.” Hawthorne and Longfellow were classmates at Bowdoin and remained part of overlapping literary circles.
American national myth: Shared stories and symbols through which Americans have interpreted the nation’s origins and identity. “Paul Revere’s Ride” helped make a specific Revolutionary episode part of popular national memory.
Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site: A historic house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Longfellow lived and which had served as George Washington’s headquarters. The preserved house links Longfellow’s literary life to American history and public memory.
The Song of Hiawatha: Longfellow’s 1855 narrative poem about Hiawatha, composed in a meter inspired by Finnish epic poetry. Its meter and Indigenous subject matter reveal the poem’s distinctive sources and later controversies.
Bowdoin College: A liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine, founded in 1794. Longfellow studied there and later joined its faculty as a professor of modern languages.
Ralph Waldo Emerson: An American essayist, lecturer, and poet who became a leading voice of transcendentalism. Emerson’s literary stature offers a contrasting contemporary influence within nineteenth-century American poetry.
American school readers: Textbooks and anthologies designed to teach reading and literature in United States schools. Longfellow’s accessible poems became enduring selections in school reading collections.
Longfellow’s abolitionism: Longfellow’s opposition to slavery, expressed in his poetry and public affiliations. His anti-slavery poems show his writing engaging directly with a central political conflict of his time.

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