Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (1807–1882)

The US poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was Smith Professor of Modern Languages at Harvard from 1834 to 1854. His poems, which were widely appreciated in the 1800s, have lost popularity, although many schoolchildren are still familiar with ‘Paul Revere's Ride’ (1863).

The 19th-century writer Henry Longfellow, who was one of the most celebrated US poets of his time. A gifted linguist, he became professor of modern languages and literature at Harvard University before concentrating on his writing. His Tales of a Wayside Inn, in the style of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, included the famous Paul Revere's Ride.

US poet. He is remembered for his ballads (‘Excelsior’, ‘The Village Blacksmith’, ‘The Wreck of the Hesperus’) and the mythic narrative epics Evangeline (1847), The Song of Hiawatha (1855), and The Courtship of Miles Standish (1858).

Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin College and taught modern languages there and at Harvard University 1835–54, after which he travelled widely. The most popular US poet of the 19th century, Longfellow was also an adept translator. His other works include six sonnets on Dante, a translation of Dante's Divine Comedy, and Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863), which includes the popular poem ‘Paul Revere's Ride’.