Biography of Longfellow Henry Wadsworth. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - biography Henry Longfellow short biography

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - American writer, romantic poet, philologist, translator, folklore expert, became famous as the author of the Song of Hiawatha. He was born in the small town of Portland (Maine) on February 27, 1807. He was a descendant of an old Yorkshire family, immigrants from England, born into a Puritan family, the head of which was a member of Congress, a famous lawyer. As a child, Henry was fond of reading and began writing his first poems very early. When the newspaper first published his poems, Henry was a 13-year-old teenager.

After receiving his primary education in Portland, Longfellow entered Harvard University and Bowdoin College. Upon graduation, he was offered to stay and work as a professor of new languages. To thoroughly prepare for taking office, Longfellow spent more than three years on the European continent, visiting Spain, Italy, Germany, and France, where he delved into the study of languages and literature. The impressions received abroad became the basis for the future collection of travel notes and essays, “Over the Ocean.”

During 1829-1835. Longfellow worked at Bowdoin College. In 1835, he was invited to work at Harvard University for a similar position. And again Longfellow leaves to travel to Europe. During the trip, the poet experiences a personal tragedy: his wife, whom he married in 1831, died. At the end of 1836, Henry Wadsward returned to America and began teaching, taking up the department of new languages. He was to work at Harvard until 1854.

Having begun his activity in the field of literature with prose - the book “Over the Ocean” (1835), Longfellow then completely devotes himself to poetic creativity; from the end of the 30s. it becomes his life's work. It was one of the first published poems that made him popular; in 1839 the first poetry collection “Night Voices” was published. The novel that followed, in which Longfellow sets out his biography, was greeted coolly by the public - in contrast to the next collections of poetry - “Ballads and Other Poems” (1842), “Poems about Slavery” (1842), etc.

Lyrical poems became a stepping stone for the poet to write epic poems, which brought him the status of a national poet and became the pinnacle of his fame. Longfellow's world fame came from The Song of Hiawatha, an epic poem based on Indian mythology. The work quickly became incredibly popular not only in America, but also on the European continent, literally 4 months later a German edition was published, and today “The Song of Hiawatha” can be read in any European language (it was completely translated into Russian by I. Bunin) .

In turn, Longfellow himself did a lot to enrich the national culture by introducing him to European poetry. His translations of poems by poets from Italy (in particular, he translated Dante's Divine Comedy), Germany, and France enjoyed enormous success among both literary critics and ordinary readers. The popularity star of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's works has not yet set in the USA and Great Britain.

The last years of the poet’s life were marred by physical suffering (he was tormented by rheumatism), but he was still in the spirit of writing and was in good spirits. His biography came to an end on March 24, 1882: on this day Longfellow died while in Cambridge.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow- American writer, romantic poet, philologist, translator, folklore expert, became famous as the author of “The Song of Hiawatha.” He was born in the small town of Portland (Maine) on February 27, 1807. He was a descendant of an old Yorkshire family, immigrants from England, born into a Puritan family, the head of which was a member of Congress, a famous lawyer. As a child, Henry was fond of reading and began writing his first poems very early. When the newspaper first published his poems, Henry was a 13-year-old teenager.

During 1829-1835. Longfellow worked at Bowdoin College. In 1835, he was invited to work at Harvard University for a similar position. And again Longfellow leaves to travel to Europe. During the trip, the poet experiences a personal tragedy: his wife, whom he married in 1831, died. At the end of 1836, Henry Wadsward returned to America and began teaching, occupying the department of new languages. He was to work at Harvard until 1854.

Biography from Wikipedia

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(English Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; February 27, 1807, Portland - March 24, 1882, Cambridge) - American poet and translator. Author of "The Song of Hiawatha" and other poems and poems.

He came from an old Yorkshire family that moved to America in the 17th century and lived in strict Puritan traditions. The poet was brought up in his hometown of Portland in the family of a lawyer, read a lot, was fond of Washington Irving and, under his influence, began to write poetry. Longfellow received his university education at Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, and after a year's stay in Europe, he became a professor of modern languages, first at Brunswick, then at Harvard University; compiled a number of valuable courses on European literature, published several translations from Spanish, and recounted his travel impressions in the interesting book “Outre-Mer.”

From the late 1830s, he devoted himself entirely to his life's work - poetry. One of his first poems was “Psalm of Life,” which immediately brought great popularity to the author; in 1839, the first collection of his poems, “Voices of the night,” appeared, and then the large autobiographical novel “Hyperion,” which was not successful. This was followed by other lyrical collections: “Ballads and other poems” (1841), which included the famous poem “Excelsior”, “Poems on slavery” (1842) and others. Longfellow was much less involved in the black liberation movement of the 1840s than other American poets such as Vitier and Lowell. He was incapable of practical activity and, sympathizing with the abolitionists, expressed this only in a few songs about slaves, very artistic, but less strong and indignant than the poet’s friends expected.

Longfellow moved from lyric poetry to the creation of epic poems of a national-American nature. Such, first of all, is “Evangeline” (1847), a pastoral poem from the history of the first French immigrants to America; it immediately made Longfellow a national poet and, until the beginning of the 20th century, remained one of the reference books of every American family. The same national character is distinguished by “Courtship of Miles Standish” (1858), where the poet is inspired by legends about the British ancestors of modern Americans, and “Hiawatha” (1855), a poem from the life of the Indians of North America. With these poems Longfellow reached the pinnacle of literary fame; all his further collections - “Tales of the wayside Inn” (1863), “Three books of song” (1872), “Golden legend”, “Birds of Passage”, “Ultima Thule” and many others. others found an enthusiastic reception among critics and the public, as did his translations of Italian, French and German poets. Brought up in the spirit of European literature, imbued with the poetry of Wordsworth and other English poets, Longfellow in his first lyrical collections transplanted English calm, idyllic romanticism onto American soil. “Voices of the night”, “Ballads” and others are devoid of grandiose impulses, as well as the pathos of deep philosophical sentiments - but they contain genuine fresh poetry of simple, quiet and tender feelings that arise in the narrow circle of everyday life.

Longfellow's lyrical collections alternate between cheerful and melancholic motifs: in “Psalm of Life” he preaches an active, optimistic ideal of life, in “Footsteps of Angels” he sings a hymn of reconciliation with the blows of fate. "Excelsior" - one of Longfellow's most popular poems - extols the boundlessness of aspirations for an unattainable ideal, and in the melodic "Hymn of the night" the poet prays only for temporary oblivion from suffering, chanting the night, the comforter of the suffering. In addition to Longfellow’s aforementioned lyrical plays, some of his best poems include some of the slave songs (especially “The Slave’s Dream”), “The Arrow and the Song,” and “The Village Blacksmith.”

Longfellow's epic poems reflect the desire to create a new national poetry, to recreate the beauty of virgin forests, the naivety of the infant population, their simple feelings and integral characters. "Evangeline" is inspired by Goethe's poem "Hermann and Dorothea". A girl separated from her lover due to the unexpected expulsion of their families from their native nest; the lonely and sad life of lovers, their exploits in serving their suffering compatriots, their meeting in the hospital, when in the dying Gabriel Evangelina, now a sister of mercy, recognizes the friend of her youth - this is the plot of the poem, beautiful mainly for individual episodes, descriptions of everyday life and wild nature , as well as the successful use of hexameter.

In the poem “Hiawatha,” Longfellow outlined the legends prevailing among the North American Indians; according to the author, the work can be called the “Indian Edda.” The very meter chosen by Longfellow in imitation of the Finnish Kalevala is very suitable to the content of the poem, which, more than anything else written by Longfellow, embodied the spirit of the American people. "The Courtship of Miles Standish" fittingly concludes the series of national poems, reproducing the manners and feelings of the Puritans in the first era of their American life. Longfellow, thanks to his extensive literary knowledge, was often inspired by pan-European subjects, especially medieval legends. These are: “Golden Legend”, “The Spanish Student”, some poems from “Tales of a Wayside Inn”, etc. Of his numerous translations, the translation of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” is especially remarkable, very accurate and artistic, despite the lack of rhymes.

Essays

"Retribution" - quatrain

Translations into Russian

M. L. Mikhailov, “Songs about Negroes” (“Sovremennik”, 1861, vol. 86);
D. L. Mikhalovsky (“Bulletin of Europe” 1879, X; collection “Foreign poets”, St. Petersburg, 1876);
Y. Ivanov (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1870, X),
O. Mikhailova (ib., 1889, XII);
Vl. Orlov (ib., 1882, VIII);
P. I. Weinberg (“Notes of the Fatherland”, 1869, No. 5, 1875, No. 5-6)
Some of these translations were included in the collection. N.V. Gerbel “English Poets” (St. Petersburg, 1877) and in Filonov’s “Chrestomathy”.
I. A. Bunin (first publication 1896) Electronic reproduction of the 1918 edition.

Bibliography

Longfellow G. Favorites / Comp. D. M. Gorfinkel; lane from English edited by Sun. A. Rozhdestvensky, B. B. Tomashevsky; entry Art. and comment. B.B. Tomashevsky. - M.: GIHL, 1958. - 687 p. - 25,000 copies.
Longfellow G. Song of Hiawatha. Whitman W. Poems and poems. Dickinson E. Poems. - M.: Fiction, 1976. - 527 p. - (Library of World Literature). - 303,000 copies.
Longfellow G. Wreckage of masts: Poems / Trans. from English R. Dubrovkina; preface O. Alyakrinsky. - M.-SPb.: Summer Garden, 2002. - 62 p. - 25,000 copies.

Memory

In 1958, a USSR postage stamp dedicated to Longfellow was issued.

He came from an old Yorkshire family that moved to America in the 17th century. and lived in strict Puritan traditions. The poet was brought up first in his small hometown, Portland, read a lot, was interested in Washington Irving, and under his influence began to write poetry. Longfellow received his university education at Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, and after a year's stay in Europe, he became a professor of modern languages, first in Brunswick, then at Harvard University; compiled a number of valuable courses on European literature, published several translations from Spanish, and recounted his travel impressions in the interesting book “Outre-Mer.”

This was followed by other lyrical collections: “Ballads and other poems” (1841), which included the famous poem “Excelsior”, “Poems on slavery” (1842) and others. Longfellow was much less involved in the black liberation movement of the 1840s than other American poets such as Vitier and Lowell. He was incapable of practical activity and, sympathizing with the abolitionists, expressed this only in a few songs about slaves, very artistic, but less strong and indignant than the poet’s friends expected.

Longfellow moved from lyric poetry to the creation of epic poems of a national-American nature. Such, first of all, is “Evangeline” (1847), a pastoral poem from the history of the first French immigrants to America; it immediately made Longfellow a national poet and by the beginning of the 20th century remained one of the reference books of every American family. The same national character is distinguished by “Courtship of Miles Standish” (1858), where the poet is inspired by legends about the British ancestors of modern Americans, and “Hiawatha” (1855), a poem from the life of the Indians of North America. With these poems Longfellow reached the pinnacle of literary fame; all his further collections: “Tales of the wayside Inn” (1863), “Three books of song” (1872), “Golden legend”, “Birds of Passage”, “Ultima Thule” and many others. others found an enthusiastic reception among critics and the public, as well as his translations from Italian, French and German poets. Brought up in the spirit of European literature, imbued with the poetry of Wordsworth and other English Lackists, Longfellow transplanted English calm, idyllic romanticism onto American soil in his first lyrical collections. “Voices of the night”, “Ballads” and others are devoid of grandiose impulses, as well as the pathos of deep philosophical sentiments - but they contain genuine fresh poetry of simple, quiet and tender feelings that arise in the narrow circle of everyday life.

Longfellow's lyrical collections alternate between cheerful and melancholy motifs: in “Psalm of Life” he preaches an active, optimistic ideal of life, in “Footsteps of Angels” he sings a hymn of reconciliation with the blows of fate. "Excelsior" - one of Longfellow's most popular poems - extols the boundlessness of aspirations for an unattainable ideal, and in the melodic "Hymn of the night" the poet prays only for temporary oblivion from suffering, chanting the night, the comforter of the suffering. In addition to Longfellow’s aforementioned lyrical plays, some of his best poems include some of the slave songs (especially “The Slave’s Dream”), “The Arrow and the Song,” and “The Village Blacksmith.”

Longfellow's epic poems reflect the desire to create a new national poetry, to recreate the beauty of virgin forests, the naivety of the infant population, their simple feelings and integral characters. "Evangeline" is inspired by Goethe's poem "Hermann and Dorothea". A girl separated from her lover as a result of the unexpected expulsion of their families from their native nest, the lonely and sad life of the lovers, their exploits in serving their suffering compatriots, their meeting in the hospital, when in the dying Gabriel Evangelina, now a sister of mercy, recognizes the friend of her youth - this is the plot a poem that is beautiful mainly for its individual episodes, descriptions of everyday life and wild nature, as well as the successful use of hexameter.

The work of Henry Longfellow is known to any more or less educated person. His romantic poetry is a bright page in American literature and culture. Let's talk about how the poet's fate unfolded, what influenced his work, and what books of the writer everyone should read.

Childhood and origins

The future poet Henry Longfellow was born on February 27, 1807 in Portland. His family came from Yorkshire. Henry's ancestors came to the United States in the 17th century and adhered to strict Puritan views. In the small city of Portland, the Longfellow family was highly respected. The father of the future writer was a lawyer, a member of Congress and provided his family with good well-being.

Henry lived in abundance since childhood and was able to devote his time to his favorite activities. He was a very dreamy and impressionable child. When the boy heard sailors speaking Spanish, French, and Italian in the port, he imagined distant countries and dreamed of travel and adventure. He read a lot, and was especially interested in Washington Irving. It was under the influence of this American romantic that Longfellow began to try his hand at poetry. At the age of 13, Henry published his first poems in the local city newspaper.

Education

Henry Longfellow, whose biography in his early years was associated with Portland, received his primary education in his hometown. After this, he entered Bowdoin College at Harvard University, where he studied with the future outstanding American writer, romantic

In 1825, Henry graduated from college and received an offer to take the position of professor in the department of modern languages. In order to pass the qualifying exam, Longfellow goes on a long European trip, which lasts for three years. He visited Italy, France, Spain, England, where he deeply studied literature and languages. After this, he was ready to begin his teaching career.

Science and teaching

In 1829, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whose biography was forever associated with literature, began work at Bowdoin College. After 6 years, he was invited to the position of professor at the University. According to the already established tradition, Longfellow first goes to Europe, where he improves his qualifications for a year. Then he starts working at Harvard.

Over the years of teaching, Henry has developed several scientifically valuable courses on major European literatures; he also publishes several translations of works. Longfellow will work at the University until 1854; in parallel with teaching, he is engaged in literary creativity.

Vocation

Henry Longfellow experienced a passion for literature as a teenager. His first experiments were poetic, but later he tried himself in prose. In his youth, he wrote a lot of poetry, but these were only student experiences. During his student years, Henry often submitted his poems to magazines and newspapers and was even published. In total, at this time he published about 40 small poems. Longfellow outlined his impressions of his trip to Europe in prose; it was a kind of travel diary called “Pilgrimage Overseas.” This work was published in 1835. But still, Longfellow was a born poet, so from the late 1830s he began to write exclusively poetry.

Creation

The poet's first fame came after the publication of the poem “Psalm of Life,” an example of naive lyrics. Since the late 1930s, he has systematically published collections of lyrics, which ensured the author's lasting fame during his lifetime. Henry Longfellow, whose poems can be divided into three large groups, went from an imitator and a romantic to a mature author with a strong civic position.

Some of the poet's works are translations and imitations of European authors. He translated Dante's Divine Comedy into English, and it is a true masterpiece. This group includes many of Longfellow’s ballads on traditional European subjects.

The second group of works by Henry Longfellow are philosophical lyrics with a slight touch of didacticism. It includes, for example, the works “Birds of Migratory”, “Voices of the Night”, “Iris” and others.

The third group of the poet’s texts are his experiments in creating a national epic, these include the famous “Song of Hiawatha” and “Evangeline”. Longfellow's works dedicated to promoting the idea of freedom and liberation of slaves from slavery stand out. In the 40s, many US poets became involved in the abolitionist movement, the movement to abolish slavery, but Henry showed himself much less on this topic than many of his colleagues.

In total, during his literary career, Longfellow published 15 collections of poetry, as well as several individual poems and poems. His legacy also includes many translations and an excellent anthology of European poetry.

"The Song of Hiawatha"

And yet, for posterity, the main achievement of Henry Longfellow is “The Song of Hiawatha.” This poem was published in 1855; its verse meter was borrowed from the famous Karelian epic “Kalevala”. The plot of the work is taken from the legends of the Native American Indians. The poet retells the aborigines and strives to create a national American epic like the Scandinavian Edda. The work is distinguished by its impeccable poetic form and elegance of style. Today, “The Song of Hiawatha” is a classic of US literature.

Personal life

The poet Henry Longfellow, whose biography is related to literature, was successful in his work, but not very happy in his personal life. He first married his classmate Fanny in 1831. The couple lived together for only 4 years. His wife died during their trip to Europe together. There was 1 child left from this marriage. Henry married for the second time in 1843. This marriage was happy, the couple had 5 children. But in 1861, his wife died tragically in a fire. This psychological trauma left Henry unbalanced for a long time. In recent years, the poet suffered from rheumatism, but continued to work. He died on March 24, 1882 in Cambridge.

Biography

Henry Wadsworth (Wordsworth) Longfellow is the first professional poet in the United States, the father of American poetry. His creative destiny is amazing. During his lifetime, the poet's works were so popular that Longfellow could live on royalties alone. This is a rare case in the history of world literature. An even rarer phenomenon of the 19th century: during the author’s lifetime, the circulation of his books exceeded a million copies.

However, starting from the end of the 19th century and especially in the 20th century, the attitude of readers and critics towards Longfellow changed dramatically. Excessive sentimentality began to be noted in the lyricism of his poems, edification in the clarity of thought, and plagiarism in obvious connections with the European poetic tradition! And it is especially unpleasant to admit the politicization of Longfellow’s main work, “The Song of Hiawatha,” designed to exalt the white man through the falsification of national Indian folklore.

Be that as it may, in the history of literature, Henry Longfellow remains the first great poet of the United States.

He was born on February 27, 1807 in Portland, Maine, which was then part of Massachusetts. Mostly Puritans of the Calvinist persuasion lived here, stern, hardworking people, whose main goal in life was the salvation of the soul, which should be achieved through daily work by the sweat of their brow and flight from worldly temptations.

The future poet's father, Stephen Longfellow, was a respected Portland lawyer who represented his district in Congress. The boy's mother's name was Zilpha. The daughter of General Peleg Wadsworth, she descended from the first American settlers.

Like most Puritans, Henry fell in love with reading from an early age. His favorite book was Washington Irving's The Sketch Book. Under Irving's influence, young Longfellow began writing poetry. He was then thirteen years old. Henry's first poem, “The Battle of Lovel's Pond,” was published in the city newspaper.

Thanks to a successful transfer from Horace, Longfellow received a scholarship to continue his education and entered Bowdoin College, after which in 1825 he was offered the position of professor of modern languages. Longfellow agreed, but requested long-term leave for preparation purposes. In preparation for work at the department, the poet spent three and a half years traveling through France, Spain, Italy and Germany, where he diligently studied European languages, history and culture.

Longfellow returned to the United States in 1829 and immediately took up the position of librarian and professor at Bowdoin College. In 1831, the poet married Martha Storer Potter. They went on their honeymoon to Europe, where Longfellow also studied Swedish, Finnish and Danish languages and literature.

But the happiness of the convinced Puritan-family man did not last long. Martha Storer Potter died unexpectedly in 1835, leaving Longfellow a widower.

The writer took the tragedy seriously. But less than a year after his wife's death, he was offered the same position at Harvard University. In 1836 Longfellow moved to Cambridge. He settled in Craig House, where the family of George Washington himself once lived.

In his new place, Professor Longfellow divided his time between lecturing and creativity. In 1839, his romantic story “Hyperion” was published, and then it was the turn of the poetry collection “Night Voices”. Suddenly the poems became popular among English-speaking readers not only in America, but also in Europe. We were especially delighted with the poem “Psalm of Life.”

In the early 1840s, Longfellow became close to the abolitionists, but did not want to join the movement. He chose to act by the means available to him. From his third trip to Europe, which the poet made in 1842, Longfellow brought back several poems on the subject of slavery and published them as a pamphlet. In general, throughout his life he avoided real politics with all his might, which did not stop the poet from politicking in his work.

Almost immediately after moving to Cambridge, Longfellow met Frances Appleton, the daughter of a merchant from Boston. They dated for a long time, and from the very beginning Henry had the warmest feelings for the girl. Suffice it to say that he brought Frances under the name of Mary Ashburton in Hyperion. Finally, Longfellow proposed, and the wedding took place in 1843. They lived in a happy marriage for almost eighteen years. On July 9, 1861, his Frances died tragically - a spark from a lit match fell on her dress, it burst into flames, and the woman was burned alive.

This was a time of extraordinary popularity for Fenimore Cooper's novels. “The Spy” and “The Last of the Mohicans” were published long ago and became loved by readers all over the world; in 1841, “St. John’s Wort” was published. It goes without saying that these works were discussed both in the literary community and in the circle of “Brahmins” - a group of university poets led by Longfellow.

During these discussions, the idea of creating a national American epic was born. However, white America was too young for the epic. But then in 1846, the book “The Myth of Hiawatha” appeared, outlining the myths of the Ojibwe Indians, written by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793?1864), an outstanding ethnographer, geographer and pioneer, the first specialist on the life of American Indians. Schoolcraft was married to Jane Johnston, whose Native American name was Obabamwawa?Gezhegoqua (Woman of the Sound of Falling Stars Sweeping Through the Sky), the daughter of an Irishman and an Indian woman, Oshaugus?Kodaiwaiqua (Woman of the Green Prairie). Jane's grandfather was Wobojig, an Ojibwe chief from La Pointe, Wisconsin. Most of the material for Schoolcraft's book was collected by his Indian wife and mother-in-law.

Having become acquainted with the “Myth of Hiawatha,” the poet decided to create an epic poem based on Indian legends, but used the legends with the crude cynicism of conquerors. To work on the poem in 1854, Longfellow left the department and devoted himself entirely to creativity. He wrote "The Song..." from June 25, 1854 to March 29, 1855 and published on November 10, 1855. It is interesting that Longfellow conceived his poem as a poetic response to the Kalevala, whose meter and rhythm he reproduced so carefully that critics continually accuse him of plagiarism.

The hero of the poem was the semi-legendary Indian leader of the Mohawk tribe (Onondaga by origin) Hiawatha, the alleged organizer of the so-called Iroquois League. The honorary title of Hiawatha was retained in the ritual list of 50 chiefs of the Iroquois League in the 14th–16th centuries.

Longfellow, relying on the cosmogonic myths of the Indians, intended to bring the story to the time of the appearance of the white man. The poet wanted to declare the continuity of Indian traditions in the form of a peaceful surrender of Indian ideology to Christianity. In the final song of the poem, Hiawatha calls on his fellow tribesmen to greet their “elder brothers - the whites.” The Indians to this day perceive this song as “a shameless outrage against history and the Indian epic.”

For all that, “The Song of Hiawatha” was a dizzying success among cultural audiences around the world.

When the Civil War began in the United States (1861?1865), the poet chose not to notice it. In Longfellow's creative legacy there is not a single line about the tragic events of those days.

In 1868, the poet made his last trip to Europe. He was accompanied on the trip by his three daughters by Frances Appleton. The American was honorably received by the British poet laureate Alfred Tennyson. He also visited Queen Victoria, who was a great admirer of Longfellow's work.

In the last years of his life, Longfellow suffered from rheumatism, but did not lose his good spirits and efficiency. In particular, he translated Dante's Divine Comedy into English.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died in Cambridge on March 24, 1882. In 1884, a marble bust of the poet was installed in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey in London. Longfellow became the first American poet to receive this honor.

In Russia, Longfellow's poetry enjoyed truly national love for a long time. His works have been translated into Russian more than once.

The first translation of “The Song of Hiawatha”, made by D. L. Mikhailovsky, appeared in 1868. However, the translation of the poem made in 1896 by I. A. Bunin became the standard of translation art. For this brilliant work, the translator received the Pushkin Prize of the Academy of Sciences in 1903.

In the United States, Longfellow’s poems “I Shot an Arrow in the Air” and “Paul Revere’s Ride” are much more popular.

Biography (en.wikipedia.org)

From the late 1830s, he devoted himself entirely to his life's work - poetry. One of his first poems was “Psalm of Life,” which immediately created great popularity for the author; in 1839, the first collection of his poems, “Voices of the night,” appeared, and then the large autobiographical novel “Hyperion,” which was not successful. This was followed by other lyrical collections: “Ballads and other poems” (1841), which included the famous poem “Excelsior”, “Poems on slavery” (1842) and others. Longfellow was much less involved in the black liberation movement of the 1840s than other American poets such as Vitier and Lowell. He was incapable of practical activity and, sympathizing with the abolitionists, expressed this only in a few songs about slaves, very artistic, but less strong and indignant than the poet’s friends expected.

Longfellow moved from lyric poetry to the creation of epic poems of a national-American nature. Such, first of all, is “Evangeline” (1847), a pastoral poem from the history of the first French immigrants to America; it immediately made Longfellow a national poet and by the beginning of the 20th century remained one of the reference books of every American family. The same national character is distinguished by “Courtship of Miles Standish” (1858), where the poet is inspired by legends about the British ancestors of modern Americans, and “Hiawatha” (1855), a poem from the life of the Indians of North America. With these poems Longfellow reached the pinnacle of literary fame; all his further collections: “Tales of the wayside Inn” (1863), “Three books of song” (1872), “Golden legend”, “Birds of Passage”, “Ultima Thule” and many others. others found an enthusiastic reception among critics and the public, as well as his translations from Italian, French and German poets. Brought up in the spirit of European literature, imbued with the poetry of Wordsworth and other English Lackists, Law

Ngfello, in his first lyrical collections, transplanted English calm, idyllic romanticism onto American soil. “Voices of the night”, “Ballads” and others are devoid of grandiose impulses, as well as the pathos of deep philosophical sentiments - but they contain genuine fresh poetry of simple, quiet and tender feelings that arise in the narrow circle of everyday life.

Longfellow's epic poems reflect the desire to create a new national poetry, to recreate the beauty of virgin forests, the naivety of the infant population, their simple feelings and integral characters. "Evangeline" is inspired by Goethe's poem "Hermann and Dorothea". A girl separated from her lover as a result of the unexpected expulsion of their families from their native nest, the lonely and sad life of the lovers, their exploits in serving their suffering compatriots, their meeting in the hospital, when in the dying Gabriel Evangelina, now a sister of mercy, recognizes the friend of her youth - this is the plot a poem that is beautiful mainly for its individual episodes, descriptions of everyday life and wild nature, as well as the successful use of hexameter.

Bibliography

Poems

The Song of Hiawatha
The Song of Hiawatha - trans. I. Bunina
The Song of Hiawatha - individual chapters, trans. D. Mikhalovsky
Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie / Evangeline - trans. G. Kruzhkova

Poems

Birds of Passage

Flight the First:

1. Birds of Passage / Birds of passage, translation by M. A. Donskoy
2. Prometheus, or the Poet's Forethought / Prometheus, translation by M. A. Kasatkin
3. Epimetheus, or the Poet's Afterthought / Epimetheus, translation by A. L. Parin
4. The Ladder of St. Augustine
5. The Phantom Ship
6. The Warden of the Cinque Ports
7. Haunted Houses
8. In the Churchyard at Cambridge
9. The Emperor's Bird's-Nest
10. The Two Angels
11. Daylight and Moonlight
12. The Jewish Cemetery at Newport / Jewish cemetery in Newport, translation by E. L. Linetskaya
13. Oliver Basselin
14. Victor Galbraith
15. My Lost Youth / My lost youth, translation by G. M. Kruzhkov
16. The Ropewalk
17. The Golden Mile-Stone / Golden Milestone, translation by K. Chemen
18. Catawba Wine
19. Santa Filomena
20. The Discoverer of the North Cape
21. Daybreak
22. The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz
23. Children / Children, translation by I. Z. Fradkin
24. Sandalphon

Flight the Second:

1. The Children's Hour
2. Enceladus
3. The Cumberland
4. Snow-Flakes
5. A Day of Sunshine
6. Something Left Undone
7. Weariness

Flight the Third:

1. Fata Morgana / Fata Morgana, translation by V. E. Shor
2. The Haunted Chamber
3. The Meeting
4. Vox Populi
5. The Castle-Builder
6. Changed / Change, translation by A. A. Engelke
7. The Challenge
8. The Brook and the Wave / Key and Wave (“From the native cliff, a source ...”), translation by P. I. Weinberg, 1874
9.Aftermath

Flight the Fourth:

1. Charles Sumner
2. Travels by the Fireside
3. Cadenabbia
4. Monte Cassino
5. Amalfi
6. The Sermon of St. Francis
7. Belisarius
8. Songo River

Flight the Fifth:

1. The Herons of Elmwood
2. A Dutch Picture
3. Castles in Spain
4. Vittoria Colonna
5. The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face
6. To the River Yvette
7. The Emperor's Glove
8. A Ballad or the French Fleet
9. The Leap of Roushan Beg
10. Haroun Al Raschid
11. King Trisanku
12. A Wraith in the Mist
13. The Three Kings
14. Song: “Stay, Stay at Home, my Heart, and Rest.”
15. The White Czar
16. Delia

Poems on Slavery

1. To William E. Channing / To William Channing (“When the book sounded to me...”) - translation by M. L. Mikhailov
2. The Slave's Dream
The Negro's Dream (“Exhausted by the heat and labor...”) - translation by A. N. Maikov, 1859
A Slave's Dream (“Exhausted, he slept in a rice field...”) - translation by M. L. Mikhailov
The Negro's Dream (“The unharvested rice also has a sickle…”) - translation by V. D. Kostomarov, 1861
The Dream of a Slave (“He slept by the rice field...”) - translation by D. L. Mikhailovsky, 1861
3. The Good Part, that shall not be taken away (“She lives by the waters of Kengawa…”) - translation by M. L. Mikhailov
4. The Slave in the Dismal Swamp
Negro in the Damned Swamp (“In the Damned Swamp, in the forest slum...”) - translation by M. L. Mikhailov
Slave in the Black Swamp - translation by M. A. Kasatkin
5. The Slave singing at Midnight
Singing of a Negro at Midnight (“Inspired Hymn of David...”) - translation by M. L. Mikhailov
The Midnight Song of a Slave - translation by A. Spal
6. The Witnesses
Witnesses (“In the depths of the wide sea...”) - translation by M. L. Mikhailov
Eyewitnesses, translation by S. E. Taska
7. The Quadroon Girl
Kvatronka (“Having hung the sails idly...”) - translation by M. L. Mikhailov, 1860
Kvarteronka - translation by M. A. Donskoy
8. The Warning / Caution (“Remember the Jewish legend ...”) - translation by M. L. Mikhailov

The Seaside and the Fireside

Translations into Russian

M. L. Mikhailov, “Songs about Negroes” (“Sovremennik”, 1861, vol. 86);
D. L. Mikhalovsky (“Bulletin of Europe” 1879, X; collection “Foreign poets”, St. Petersburg, 1876);
Y. Ivanov (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1870, X),
O. Mikhailova (ib., 1889, XII);
Vl. Orlov (ib., 1882, VIII);
P. I. Weinberg (“Notes of the Fatherland”, 1869, No. 5, 1875, No. 5-6)
Some of these translations were included in the collection. N.V. Gerbel “English Poets” (St. Petersburg, 1877) and in Filonov’s “Chrestomathy”.
I. A. Bunin (first publication 1896) Electronic reproduction of the 1918 edition.
Henry Longfellow. Wrecks of masts: Poems/Trans. and preface R. Dubrovkina. M.-SPb.: Summer Garden, 2002. (bilingual)

Literature

Eric S. Kobertson, "Life of H. W. Longfellow" ("Great writers"), with complete bibliography.

To the biography of the poet Henry Longfellow (Kramer Victor, http://www.proza.ru/avtor/vcram)

Some touches to the official biography of the poet Henry Longfellow. (1807 – 1882)

Henry Wordsworth Longfellow came from a family that migrated to America from Yorkshire at the end of the 17th century. and was raised in the strict traditions of the Puritans. The future poet spent his childhood in the small town of Portland, in the house of his father, a Protestant pastor. The house had a good library, so the boy read a lot, and then began to write poetry in the style of early American poets, especially Washington Irving.

Longfellow received his education in Brunswick, at Bowdoin College. After a rather short stay in Europe, the talented young scientist took a professorship, first in Braunschweig, and then at Harvard University, where he taught a course on modern European literature.

Having grown up in the spirit of admiration for the traditions of European literature, admiring the poetry of Wordsworth and other English romantic poets, Longfellow in his first lyrical collections makes an attempt to transplant English romanticism onto American soil, and he succeeds.

By creating his epic poems, Longfellow strives to form a new American poetry, depicting the beauty of virgin forests, the simplicity and purity of the natives, their honest characters and sincere feelings. He also creates an extensive series of national poems, reproducing the morals and feelings of the Puritans in the first era of their life in America.

Longfellow's religious and moral views, at first glance, are very traditional for people of his circle and were formed during his childhood and youth, spent in a pious family of American settlers with deep Puritan traditions.

In general, looking from the height of an eagle’s flight at the long and worthy of imitation of youth life of the classic poet, you involuntarily ask the question:
- “Well... where is the intrigue? Everything is good in his life, everything is right with him - he was born, baptized, married, created, soared, rested, ascended... It even becomes disgusting. Where is the “skeleton in the closet” - really?
There appears to be a skeleton.

Research into the everyday life, rich mythology and religious views of the Indians - the indigenous inhabitants of North and South America - brought Longfellow into the ranks of the "Society of Antitheurgists - Optimates" - the most impressive organization of the "Satanist" persuasion not only in North America, but also in Europe.

Created around 1855 (the year of publication of the “Song of Hiawatha”), this society set as its goal the improvement of the world order through the widespread introduction - in contrast to the dominance of traditional Catholicism or Lutheranism - of a new, “Satanic” cult, at the head of which the leaders of the society saw themselves.

The society had its main residence in North America - in the city of Cambridge (Massachusetts), and its leader was secretly elected and for more than three decades was a pious, impeccable Christian in the world - Henry Longfellow, who for this purpose accepted the title of "High Priest of the New Ceremonial Magic" .

The direction of the Society was carried out by the Supreme Council, which consisted - in imitation of the Roman Curia - of the leading and most authoritative servants of the new satanic cult, who regulated the activities of their secret “lodges” both in America and throughout Europe.

The grandiose plans of the Society included the transfer of the functions of the world spiritual leader from the Pope to the Supreme Priest, as a new world religious and moral authority, under whose leadership the gradual transformation of the world would be carried out and the achievement of the ultimate goal - the “Golden Age”.

Branches of this widely branched secret society existed for a long time in France (Paris, Nantes, Lyon), Italy (Rome, Naples), Germany, Holland (Bruges), Poland, Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kharkov), Austria (Vienna, Graz), Scotland and Turkey (Constantinople)***

The secret spiritual life of the patriarch of American poetry, a devout Christian, an impeccable citizen and a family man - and the leader of a secret society with a satanic bias and daring plans for world domination - ran parallel for decades, never becoming known to the poet's contemporaries and admirers.

Having existed for about half a century, after Longfellow's death the society lost its position at the beginning of the 20th century.

Information about its existence and activities is currently contradictory.

Note:
***had no relation to Masonic lodges.

Brief biography of Henry Longfellow

American writer, romantic poet. Son of a lawyer. After graduating from Bowdoin College, he completed his education in Europe (1826-29); professor of literature at Harvard University (1836-1854). The first poems were published in 1820.

Since the late 30s, the following collections of poems have been published - “Night Voices”, “Birds of Migratory”, etc. His translations of works by European poets played a major role in American cultural life. Translated Dante's The Divine Comedy into English.

He also wrote the novels “Hyperion”, “Kavana”, and a book of travel notes “Over the Ocean”. Turning to the past of his country, Longfellow tried to create epic works about the life of the first settlers in America, legitimized the hexameter in American poetry (the poems “Evangeline”, “The Matchmaking of Miles Standish”), based on the legends of the Indian people, taking the Finnish epic “Kalevala” as a literary model ", created the "Song of Hiawatha", which brought him worldwide fame.

A philologist, an expert in literature and folklore, and a translator, Longfellow undertook a 31-volume publication of “Poems about Places,” dedicated to the depiction of nature in world poetry.

In democratic circles in Russia, especially in the 60s. XIX century, his “Poems on Slavery” were very popular. Russian translators often turned to his lyrics and ballads.

Biography

American writer, romantic poet - Longfellow Henry Wadsworth was born on February 27, 1807 in Portland, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in the family of a lawyer.

The boy began writing poetry early. When he was only thirteen years old, his first publication appeared in the newspaper. After graduating from Bowdoin College at Harvard University, Longfellow went to Europe, where he spent three and a half years (1826-1829) traveling through France, Spain, Italy and Germany, studying European languages and becoming immersed in the history and culture of Europe.

In 1831 he got married. He published a sentimental and romantic book of travel notes: “Over the Ocean” (1835) and again set off on a trip to Europe. His wife died during the trip; he returned home at the end of 1836 and began teaching at Harvard, where he remained until 1854.

Subsequently, he devoted himself entirely to poetry, releasing several collections of poems: “Night Voices” (1839), “Poems about Slavery” (1842), “Ballads and Other Poems” (1842) and a collection of translations “Poets and Poetry of Europe” (1846). These books ensured his lasting success among wide reading circles in America and England.

In 1843 he remarried and purchased a house in Cambridge. The tragic death of his second wife in 1861 plunged Longfellow into deep melancholy, but the cycle of poems “Tales of a Roadside Inn” testified to his creative revival. The stories were published in three editions in 1863, 1872 and 1874.

Longfellow's most significant foray into epic was The Song of Hiawatha (1855), an epic poem based on Indian folklore that mixed elements of the mythology of two different Indian tribes. The poem was a huge success in America and Europe, which brought him worldwide fame.

Biography

Born February 27, 1807 in Portland (Maine). In 1825, at the same time as N. Hawthorne, he graduated from Bowdoin College, where he was offered the position of professor of new languages. In preparation for it, he spent three and a half years traveling through France, Spain, Italy and Germany, studying European languages and becoming immersed in the history and culture of Europe. From 1829 to 1835 he taught at Bowdoin College, in 1831 he married and published a collection of travel essays overseas (Outre-Mer). In 1835, Harvard University invited Longfellow to the same position, and before starting work, he again went on a trip to Europe. His wife died during the trip; he returned home at the end of 1836 and began teaching at Harvard, where he remained until 1854.

In Longfellow's first poetry collection, Voices of the Night, 1839, the poem Psalm of Life was published, which gained him fame in all levels of society. Ballads and Other Poems (1842) included The Death of the Evening Star, The Village Blacksmith and Excelsior. In 1843 he remarried and purchased a house in Cambridge. The large poem Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847), written in unrhymed dactylic hexameters, tells of the wanderings of those expelled from Acadia (a province in Canada) in 1755 and separated lovers; Despite its heavy meter and excessive sentimentality, the poem is considered Longfellow's masterpiece. During his mature years of marital bliss, he also wrote The Golden Legend (1851), The Song of Hiawatha (1855), and a narrative poem in unrhymed hexameters, The Courtship of Miles Standish (1858), the subject of which based on folk stories and historical accounts of an event that occurred in New England during the early days of colonization.

Written in unrhymed trochaic tetrameter, the narrative poem The Song of Hiawatha owes its appearance to G. R. Schoolcraft (1793-1864), who published the legends of the Ojibwe Indians, and to the meter of the Finnish epic Kalevala. Hiawatha was overrated, wrongfully called a truly Indian epic: in essence, it was a new phenomenon in the literature of romanticism. The young American Indian Hiawatha, raised in the Ojibwe tribe, learned the language of birds and animals as a child. Magic mittens give him supernatural strength, and magic moccasins allow him to take a mile with every step. They help him repay his father, Majekivis, the personification of the West Wind, for the wrong he did to his mother, Wenona. Having become the leader of the tribe, Hiawatha protects him for many years of cloudless peace. His marriage to the Minnegaga maiden is celebrated with feasting and song, but in the end death, famine and white men destroy the Indians. Hiawatha's friends die, Minnegaga dies, and Hiawatha himself, having given his people advice to accept the new religion of white priests, sails to the Isles of the Blessed.

The tragic death of his second wife in 1861 plunged Longfellow into deep melancholy, but the cycle of poems Tales of a Wayside Inn, which included Paul Revere's Race, The Legend of Rabbi Ben Levi and the Saga of King Olaf, testified to his creative revival. The stories were published in three editions in 1863, 1872 and 1874 (a one-volume edition was published in 1886). Longfellow used here a frame composition modeled on J. Chaucer and G. Boccaccio: the poems (21 of them) are presented as stories, alternately told in warm company by the fireplace of a rural inn. For several years he was translating Dante's Divine Comedy. The result of this work (three volumes, 1865-1867) was a very competent literal translation of the text in unrhymed terzas. In the last years of his life, Longfellow suffered from rheumatism, but did not lose his good spirits and efficiency. Longfellow died in Cambridge (Massachusetts) on March 24, 1882.