Longfellow: A Rediscovered Life

In this long-awaited biography, Calhoun tries to reclaim Longfellow as a cultural icon, indicative of his times, based on the expectations of his reading audience, and how he served a greater purpose than the lyric poetry he is mostly remembered (forgotten?) for today. The book is very accessible, written as a series of strung-together anecdotes. Calhoun adds just enough of his own critical readings of Longfellow and his work without being overly opinionated (or, perhaps significant considering the subject matter) without elevating Longfellow to a higher role than he deserves. It is certainly not in-depth; the book jumps from the death of the poet's second wife (1861) to Longfellow's own death in 1882 in short order, for example. The final chapter examines what happened next, how the world embraced Longfellow as a major figure, before dissecting the reasons why he was knocked off his pillar by Modernists (and Calhoun argues provocatively how none of their arguments against Longfellow are valid). Calhoun is challenged by the lack of personal detail in Longfellow's first-hand accounts. HWL was aware that his letters, journals, etc. would be pawed through after his death and, as such, was a careful self-editor. As a result, little of Longfellow's true self (personality quirks, political leanings, religious feelings) comes through, leaving scholars frustrated to find out more. That challenge is reflected in this biography. This book is a good, short read, and encourages further study of Longfellow and his works. Perhaps another will be inspired to write something more in-depth from this intro.

Two hundred years ago on Fevruary 27, 1807, my favorite poet, a hard-headed Yankee, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, not much more than a wild frontier at that time. He was from a privileged family, father considered a progressive who'd graduated from Harvard and mother an intellectual. Being a trustee of Bowdoin College, Stephen sent his sons to this small-town environment and small-college education, like mine at Martin Methodist College. Henry was a young romantic and in barely three years, he became proficient in several languages including French, Spanish, German, and Italian. He found Spain fascinating as he had no experience in poverty, politics, or war. He had a 'gentle' melancholy like Meriweather Lewis and Abraham Lincoln; he gave his own intuitive verson of Lincoln's death, "Killed at the Ford." He was compared to Stephen Vincent Benet who wrote "John Brown's Body" (which I own). He started with ballads and his poems were like a movement of the best music. He incorporated Indian legends to portray America's romantic past. His "Tales of a Wayside Inn" were called an American "Canterbury Tales," and he was favorable compared with Geoffrey Chaucer. In fact, he wrote a poem about Chaucer: "He listeneth and he laugheth at the sound, Then writeth in a book like any clerk. He is the poet of the dawn." He called Milton "O sightless bard, England's Maeonides." Longfellow's "Christus" was a trilogy in 1872 and was composed of his translation of Dante's "The Divine Tragedy," his "Christ" story, "Golden Legend" and "The New England Tragedies" about witchcraft and intolerance of that time. His poetry was so well expressed: The day is done, and the darkness Falls from the Wings of Night, As a feather is wafted downward From an eagle in his flight. I see the lights of the village Gleam trhough the rain and the mist, And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me That my soul cannot resist. And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day, Shall fold their tents like the Arabs, And as silently steal away." He wrote about "Haunted Houses," "Paul Revere's Ride," and "The Builders." He was a dandy fellow, an educator, a dedicated husband, a world traveler -- all of which shows in his land and short poems. Oscar Wilde is known to have said, "Longfellow was himself a beautiful poem more beautiful than anything he ever wrote." Later in his life when he spent his last thirty-five years in the Craigie House, he turned it into a shrine to George Washington who had lived there for nine months during the Siege of Boston. He left "footprints on the sands of time." His poems express a deep sincerity and ability to identify with the feelings of the common man. Queen Victoria told him at Windsor Castle in 1869, "All my servants read you."

A pleasant surprise. I bought this biography as a gift but read it myself first. I don't generally admire Longfellow's poetry, except for "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," but I appreciate his translations from Danish to English and I love his house in Cambridge. So I agree with this book's thesis: that Longfellow is important not so much for his poetry as for his transmission, even creation, of popular American culture in the 1800s. The book is written with style and held my interest except for some of the details of Longfellow's travels in Europe. Highly recommended.

This biography of Longfellow which I 'had' to read, pleasantly surprised me. It provides an entertaining, detailed description of the period, including the development of romance language studies in the United States (sigh, yes, Harvard) as well as the society, culture, attitudes of the period. The book deals somewhat with Longfellow's poetry, but its focus is as much on Longfellow the husband, father, son, friend, citizen etc, very much a gentleman of the period, his class, the US and Boston. I am not an expert, but the portrayal of the man seems realistic rather than deified. I especially liked the opening description of Oscar Wilde's 'pilgrimage' to Craige House to see the poet. The biography is filled with entertaining nuggets.