Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

(27 February 1807 – 24 March 1882 / Portland, Maine)

poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
#15 on top 500 poets
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Poems

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Henry Wadsworth was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy and was one of the five Fireside Poets.

Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, then part of Massachusetts, and studied at Bowdoin College. After spending time in Europe he became a professor at Bowdoin and, later, at Harvard College. His first major poetry collections were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841). Longfellow retired from teaching in 1854 to focus on his writing, living the remainder of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in ... more »

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  • ''We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.''
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), U.S. poet. Kavanagh, bk. 1, ch. 1 (1849).
    972 person liked.
    		270 person did not like.
  • ''It is curious to note the old sea-margins of human thought! Each subsiding century reveals some new mystery; we build where monsters used to hide themselves.''
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), U.S. poet. one of the meditations of Mr. Churchill, inscribed on his pulpit, in Kavanagh, bk. 1, ch. 13 (1849)...
    133 person liked.
    		49 person did not like.
  • ''The Mormons make the marriage ring, like the ring of Saturn, fluid, not solid, and keep it in its place by numerous satellites.''
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), U.S. poet. repr. In Complete Works, vol. 1 (1886). "Table-Talk," Drift-Wood (1857 edition).
    116 person liked.
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  • ''The Helicon of too many poets is not a hill crowned with sunshine and visited by the Muses and the Graces, but an old, mouldering house, full of gloom and haunted by ghosts.''
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), U.S. poet. repr. In Complete Works, vol. 1 (1886). "Table-Talk," Drift-Wood (1857).
    107 person liked.
    		43 person did not like.
  • ''Men of genius are often dull and inert in society; as the blazing meteor, when it descends to earth, is only a stone.''
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), U.S. poet. Kavanagh, bk. 1, ch. 13 (1849). One of the meditations of Mr. Churchill, inscribed on his pulpi...
    124 person liked.
    		39 person did not like.
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Comments about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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  • Walterrean Salley (11/25/2016 7:37:00 PM)

    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a great poet of the times. Could read of his works all day, and not tire. ‘I’ll be back.’

    4 person liked.
    		7 person did not like.
  • Walterrean Salley (11/25/2016 4:40:00 PM)

    Longfellow- a genius of a poet.

    6 person liked.
    		5 person did not like.
  • Pure Vanilla (5/30/2016 8:49:00 PM)

    mmmm, covers all nine thousand taste buds *smacks lips*
    air-rate it *smacks lips*
    warm it up *smacks lips*
    that top gum *smacks lips* that cream *smacks lips* pure vanilla *smacks lips* sweeteners *smacks lips*
    mmmm *smacks lips* thats a 10 *smacks lips*

    7 person liked.
    		12 person did not like.
  • Sexy Fisting (3/12/2014 2:41:00 PM)

    Tyson likes fisting cats

    73 person liked.
    		118 person did not like.
  • Poem Lover (3/4/2014 4:17:00 PM)

    this poem made me wanna cry. like i was reading this is the car and i just started to ball my eyes out.. this really touched my heart. i shared the story with my book club and everyone loved it

    63 person liked.
    		83 person did not like.
  • Daniel De Villa (1/19/2014 4:47:00 AM)

    He's my favorite poet. The Psalm of Life is one of my favorite poems and is also one of the first poems I read.

    70 person liked.
    		94 person did not like.
  • Daniel De Villa (1/19/2014 4:47:00 AM)

    He's my favorite poet. The Psalm of Life is one of my favorite poems and is also one of the first poems I read.

    58 person liked.
    		90 person did not like.
  • Sj Holland Sj Holland (7/4/2013 5:42:00 PM)

    How sorrowful the story about Fanny's death and Longfellow's subsequent depression. He penned beautiful poetry while suffering emotionally long after her passing.

    86 person liked.
    		81 person did not like.
  • Calico Jack Calico Jack (4/20/2012 1:03:00 PM)

    Force rules the world still,
    Has ruled it, shall rule it;
    Meekness is weakness,
    Strength is triumphant,
    Over the whole earth
    Still is it Thor's-Day!

    from the Saga of King Olaf
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    No its Friday!

    171 person liked.
    		204 person did not like.
  • Sam Jones (12/21/2009 9:44:00 AM)

    OMG! His poems r awesome, but i heard this poem called Sam Jones, Conqueror of the World! It's awesome. Read it and vote it a 10! ! !

    179 person liked.
    		217 person did not like.
Read all 13 comments »
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Best Poem of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A Psalm Of Life

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the ...

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