Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a preeminent poet in his day and even if time has contrived to show that he is something less than the remarkable artist, he never claimed to be, we can still fondly read his work, which epitomizes 19th century.
Born on February 27, 1807 in Portland, Maine to parents, Stephen and Zilpah Longfellow, Henry, from the start, had a reputation for being studious. Furthermore, among other accomplishments, including being fluent in Latin at age 6, he published his first poem at age thirteen.
In 1822, he enrolled in Bowdoin College. After his graduation in 1825, Longfellow earned a professorship at Bowdoin College and in 1831, married Mary Storer Potter. He also published his first book later in that year. In 1834, the ever studious Longfellow traveled to Europe to study foreign languages.
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Nathan’s 17-year-old daughter struck him and he eventually married her after a 7-year courtship, during which she repeatedly turned down his offers of marriage before hereafter agreeing
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By 1854, Longfellow was ready to be done with teaching so to support his family, he started writing full time. He also wrote the sonnet “The Evening Star” dedicated to his lovely wife Frances A. Longfellow. However, sorrow once again struck his family in the form of Fanny’s death after her dress caught fire on July 9th, 1861. Henry and Frances Longfellow had been married for 18 years and had had six children together and Longfellow seemed to feel her death greatly as he didn’t write for quite a while after her death.
In 1879, the now aging and disheartened Longfellow, penned “The Cross of Snow” to express the grief he was still trying to overcome in his second wife’s death.
In March of 1882, Longfellow went to bed with a severe stomach pain. He died on March 24th of that same year at the age of