Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) was the most popular American poet of the nineteenth century. Born in Portland, Maine, he taught modern languages at Bowdoin College and Harvard University. His best-known works include A Psalm of Life, The Village Blacksmith, The Wreck of the Hesperus, Evangeline (1847), The Song of Hiawatha (1855) and Paul Revere's Ride; he also translated Dante's Divine Comedy into English. He was the first American poet honoured with a bust in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. Longfellow knew grief well — he lost his first wife young and his second wife in a fire in 1861 — and many of his poems reflect on memory, loss and the life of the spirit. Haunted Houses was published in 1858, in the group of poems called Birds of Passage in his collection The Courtship of Miles Standish and Other Poems.
Worked examples
Example 1 (MCQ, 1 mark). Which poem in the syllabus is by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow? (a) The Glove and the Lions (b) Haunted Houses (c) When Great Trees Fall (d) A Considerable Speck.
Solution. (b). The others are by Leigh Hunt, Maya Angelou and Robert Frost.
Example 2 (short answer, 2 marks). Write two facts about Longfellow.
Model answer. Longfellow (1807 to 1882) was the most popular American poet of the nineteenth century. He taught modern languages at Harvard University and wrote The Song of Hiawatha.
Why this scores: two separate, correct facts, one mark each. No extra detail is needed.
Example 3 (personal response, 3 marks). Longfellow lost two wives. How might this have shaped a poem like Haunted Houses?
Model answer. The poem was published in 1858, before his second wife died, so we cannot say it was written about her. But he had already lost his first wife young, and he knew what it is to miss someone. This may be why he writes about the dead with tenderness and gives comfort instead of fear.
Why this scores: it gets the dates right (1 mark), makes a reasoned guess and signals it with "may" (1 mark), and links the guess to the poem's gentle tone (1 mark).
Doubts cleared
Q. Was Longfellow an English poet? No, he was American, born in Portland, Maine. He is the first American poet to have a bust in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey in London.
Q. Do I have to learn all his works? No. None of the questions solved in this chapter asks about the poet's other works. A few facts (American, Harvard professor, 1807 to 1882, poem published in 1858) are enough to support an answer.
Q. Was Haunted Houses written after his wife died in the fire? No. The fire was in 1861 and the poem was published in 1858. Never link the two.
Mistakes to avoid
- Calling Longfellow British, or mixing his life dates (1807 to 1882) with the date of the poem (1858).
- Stating as a fact that the poem is about one particular death. Use "may" or "perhaps" when you connect the poet's life with the poem.
- Listing many titles from memory with wrong spellings. Two or three exact titles are better.
Check yourself
- In which year was Haunted Houses published?
- Name the university where Longfellow taught.
- Why can the poem not have been written about his second wife's death?
Answers: 1. 1858. 2. Harvard University. 3. She died in a fire in 1861, three years after the poem appeared.