Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: A Psalm of Life
Biographical Information
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born to parents Stephen and Zilpah Wadsworth Longfellow on February 27th, 1807. Born to an established family in Portland, Maine, his father as a successful lawyer and politician, but also a trustee of Bowdoin College in Maine, and he sent Henry there at age 15. In the liberal arts college, Longfellow published poems and essays and fell in love with poetry. His passion was encouraged by his mother, an intelligent lover of literature and culture. Henry Longfellow was a brilliant student in school and graduated in 1825, then choosing to study abroad for three years in Europe where he studied language and became entranced by Old World
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Longfellow was a successful writer during and after his death. The topics of Longfellow’s poem varied vastly, writing about slavery, American Indians, poetry of other countries, and writing ballads and epic poems, but with the general trend of American history. (bio) Longfellow received many awards throughout his life, being admired by Queen Victoria, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Prime Minister William Gladstone, Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde among others. (biography.org) “Longfellow was awarded honorary doctoral degrees from Oxford and Cambridge universities, and after his death was the first American to be included in Poets ' Corner of Westminster Abbey in London”.
Poem Analysis The poem below expresses the optimism of a young man in defiance to the traditional ways of the old man. Longfellow wants the reader to be inspired to live each day to the fullest, and leave a positive mark on the world so that another can be inspired in the same way. In “A Psalm of Life”, Longfellow’s use of metaphors and tone work in harmony to reveal the theme that one should not waste life, but strive for excellence.
A Psalm of Life
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.
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!
Poetry as a literally work in which the expression of ideas and feelings is given strength has had great authors overtime who took different perspectives in this genre of literature. These poets used distinctive rhythm and style to express their styles, poetic themes, outlook on life, and had their share of influence on the American society. This paper uses the basis of these styles, themes, outlook on life and subsequent influence on the American society to compare three prolific poets who ventured into this literature genre: Robert Frost, Mary Oliver, and Maya Angelou. Robert Frost (1874-1963) holds a unique and almost sole position in the career span which mostly encompasses
Lucinda’s name represents a person who seems to have been extraordinary, unique, and vibrant in life. Unlike George, she lived with purpose and showed ambition. Instead of running away from hardships, Lucinda experienced every emotion in life from the good times to the bad times. This resulted in an amazingly full life with no regrets. Lucinda died at the age of 96, completely satisfied with how well her life went. While alive, she experienced love and sorrow, but also, had an ambitious outlook that allowed her to fulfill her purpose and achieve her goals. At the end of the poem, Lucinda gave these words of wisdom: “Life is too strong for you--/It takes life to love Life.” Her advice is to live life to the fullest even if life begins to become challenging. Lucinda speaks directly to the reader, and challenges the reader to live life to the fullest. “Shouting” and “singing”, “working” and “raising” twelve children are examples of ways she behaved with vibrancy and energy. This carpe diem attitude encourages us to lose the anger, discontentment, sorrow, and weariness that may cause us to live unhappily.
If there is one person who has left his impact on this century, it’s a man named Robert Moses. Moses had a vision of what New York City should look like and how it should function, and through determination and ingenuity he transformed our culture. Moses was at the time the only public official who not only had grand ideas, but also figured out ways to pay for them. He did this by establishing a series of public authorities, which allowed him to make decisions as if he was the CEO of a private company. Transforming New York into the urban landscape that we see today, if New York seems like a pretty great company. Transforming New York into the urban landscape that we see today is in itself a great achievement, but does that make Moses a great
Throughout his life, Whittier was never thought to be a great poet by his critics, they would however acknowledge him for being a nobel and kind man giving an unique expression of the ideas they valued through his verse. The Civil War would come to inspire Whittier for his famous poem
Another important key factor about Scott is his ability to be open to change. He develops this trait throughout the novel, not right away. The major example I found in the book that represents this, is his relationship with Wesley Cobble during the school year. At first, Scott fears Wesley, because he asks to “borrow” his lunch money, and looks very tough from the outside. “I’m not a complete wimp, and it’s not like I’ll never stand up for myself, but Wesley is flat out scary.” (Page 96.) As the story goes on, Scott continues to encounter Wesley who regularly approaches him for “donations.” But at one point, Scott and Wesley have a friendly chat in the office and Wesley ends up sitting next to Scott at lunch. Their “friendship” grows when Scott is told to “Hop in” Wesley’s Mustang. Wesley ends up taking Scott to school every day, and they become good friends. Wesley helped open Scott to accept that change is good, and it becomes an important value to him. Scott makes new friends, and realizes that he won’t always have the same friends from middle school.
He will be talked about for centuries to come along with many of his famous works that are admired and still engaged through different schools, hbcu’s especially. Literary figures, as himself, is what keeps the new generations inspired and eager to help make a change. Though African American’s have come a long way since these poems were written, they is still an even greater amount to go. In order to see change efficiently and effectively we as the African American community have to do things in ways they have never been done before in hopes to reach a new
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a successful pet in his lifetime. In his childhood, he was so intelligent that he entered Bowdoin College at the age of fifteen. He worked at Bowdoin College and Harvard College for 19 years due to his eyesight. In addition, his work sold million copies. At his later time, his birthday became a national holiday, and he was the first man who was honored by Britain society. Despite these glories, he suffered from the death of his two wives, Mary Storer Potter and Frances Appleton, and as time goes by, his works are criticized so much.
In addition to the content of the poem relaying the message of the importance of memories and their driving force and their ability to allow an individual, or a group, to lay claim to immortality, the form in which the poetry was written subtly alludes to the same concepts of heroism and memories. This is demonstrated in everything from the subtle changes in tone that occur throughout the poem. An example of this change of tone affecting the mood of the poem could be demonstrated while studying the character’s loss of humanity throughout the poem. In the second stanza the narrator presents war in an
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the first famous American poet, was born on February 27, 1807 in Portland Maine, then part of Massachusetts. The War of 1812 occurred when he was only five years old, but the effects lasted much longer, as evidenced by a poem he wrote later in life titled “My Lost Youth.” Longfellow's interest in reading was something his mother encouraged. Two books she gave him were Robinson Crusoe and Don Quixote. One of his first works, “Battle of Lovell's Pond,” he published in the “Portland Gazette” without informing his family. “Later that evening while at a friend's house, he overheard the father say to another friend how terrible the poem was.”1 Despite this severe disappointment, he continued to pursue his dream
One can track the American ideal of a self-made man all the way back to the Puritans. However, the current idea of hard-work is slightly different; the Puritan belief in a rigid work ethic lacked a goal, and was supposed to be where all effort was dedicated. Longfellow’s view on labor, which Jill Anderson presents in “‘Be Up and Doing’: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Poetic Labor,” coincides with the Puritan beliefs in several cases. As Anderson analyzes Longfellow’s perspective on hard-work in her essay, the similarity between Longfellow’s and the Puritans’ view is easily noted.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a very popular American poet. He was one of the most influential poets from the 1800s. Henry received a memorial head statue in the poet’s corner of west minister abbey in London. He wrote some of the most popular poems in American literature. During the twentieth century, Henry’s writing reputation decreased. This author believes that Henry’s writing is important because his poems are a part of the history of American literature. In the 1800s, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow became a very popular poet in American literature. (Clark, 486)
There are many poets that have been writing some of the most amazing poems in the world for years upon years. Poetry is a great way to write about some of the most meaningful things in one’s life, without directly having to state what you’re trying to say some of the times. A lot of poets write about events within their lives as well as things in everyday life in the lives of everyone in the world. The poems “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) and “Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) both use great diction and varying tone in their poems to portray their individual perspectives about life.
Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts to John Thoreau and Cynthia Dunbar. Thoreau studied at Harvard College and took various courses
“For Longfellow - an abolitionist -the decision of the united states and the impending war over slavery was as dangerous and threatening to america as the british troops were in 1775.” said by Franklin Johnson in the article “How Accurate Was Longfellow’s Poem?” In the article that speaks the truth states many different pieces of accurate information. In the correct article called “How Accurate Was Longfellow’s Poem”, states that that Henry Longfellow’s information was incorrect because he is not interested in the conversation or the topic that he is walking or writing about and so therefore is giving incorrect information. As stated in Longfellow’s poem he is giving a lot of INCORRECT information but getting away with it by stating “information” that is making his words seem believable by giving false information and stating different information and all of the things that are given with false information. The poem written by Henry Wadsworth was very incorrect because there were 3 different people who were involved in Paul Revere’s journey and in the poem only 1 person is mentioned, he gave incorrect information about the lanterns and how it was used, and in the poem he gives us a lot of information that is inaccurate and does not give us the correct ending as in the article about the poem it gives a perspective for Paul Revere and gives us somewhat of an ending that will tell us the truth. There are three different articles and they are all about Paul Revere and based all
Longfellow’s life.The couple had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood, and the marriage gave him a