Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Essay

Early on in a poets career development, influences flow him down the path to be an inspiring poet. Ones family, friends, distant places they visited, and even other noteworthy poets and authors, often help shape a poets professional piece of writing mode. In heat content Wadsworth Longfellows case, each(prenominal) of these motivators helped him become interested in writing. At night his bring would aver him meters and stories that shake him even more to release poem. Henry was raised in a rural area with much open countryside. Henrys friends pressured him to write one of his roughly famous poems Evangeline. As a child, Longfellow was in truth fascinated when he would travel to different places around the world and come across foreigners speak different languages and tell stories in their native tongue. The Author that really influenced him was Washington Irving. Henry verbalize every good poet would have in his possession and use as a tool Irvings low gear book. Hen ry Wadsworth Longfellow can thank his family and peers for helping him develop into one of the most admired poets.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland Maine on February 27, 1807(Beck 1). Henry was the support son of eight children in his family. His father, Stephen Longfellow, was a prominent lawyer and ulterior a segment of Congress. Henrys mother, Zilpah Wadsworth, was the daughter of a basal fight hero who was Henrys grandfather that lived in Gorham. Henry lives with his grandfather during school and summer vacation. As Henry grew older, he wed a woman named Mary Storer Potter a former classmate at Bowdoin College. In Henrys second trip to Europe, his sustenance was shaken when his wife Mary died. When this happened Henry spent a unanimous course of instruction in Germ each and Switzerland morning his wifes death. The whole year Henry spent in Ger many an(prenominal) and Switzerland he didnt write any poetry at all.After he came back to the United States from Germany and Switzerland, he met a woman named Frances Appleton. Henry proposed to her, however, Frances refused his proposal. Frances finally accepted his proposal the quest spring ushering in the happiest 18 years of Longfellows life(Beck 1). This espousals with Frances gave Henry new confidence that he never had. In 1861, when the well-mannered War had just begun, Frances was sealing an envelope when her dress caught on fire. notwithstanding her husband desperate attempts to save Frances she died the next day(Beck 1). After this happened, Longfellow illogical the confidence he had gained and again didnt publish any poetry for the next two years. After all these tragic years Longfellow went through, his health started to fail and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died March 24, 1882 at the age of 75. He was hide in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Even though Longfellow has died, his legacy still lives on.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow found earnestness for his poems in the forest, in the sea, and all over Portland, Maine. Henry didnt just get inspiration for his poems from the environment, he also found inspiration through people he meet and admired. Henry spent school and summer vacations in Gorham, at his grandfathers house. These times spent with his grandfather were among his most rhapsodic and influential times in his life. His grandfather would tell him stories nearly the war, Indian fights, legends of that time, and how life was when he was a boy. One of Henrys poems that were inspired by his grandfather was his first poem called The Battle of Lovells pond. This poem was based on a story about the war that his grandfather told him. Henrys grandfather was not the save family member that influenced him.At night before Henry would go to sleep his mother would sound out aloud to him, his brothers, and his sisters. She would read from The High Romance of Ossian, the legendary Gallic hero. This is not the only book that Henrys mother rea d to him she also read Washington Irvings Sketch Book. Henry said that every aspiring poet would have Irvings first book. Family was not the only people that influenced Longfellow, his friends also influenced him. His friends pressured Henry to write one of his most famous poems Evangeline. Nathaniel Hawthorne influenced Henrys writing bolt and some of the content in this poem. Many people have different inspirations in their life and in Henrys case it was mostly family and friends that helped shape his writing style and subjects.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow made his poetry unique by vividly describing the typical American life by using words and phrases in a musical language that was easy to read and understand. He would frequently write about all the war stories and legends of the time that his grandfather told him as a child. When writing, Henry would use all different types of writing styles. His favorite style was free verse because he was able to tell stories with ease and he was able to describe his poetry in a sort a reader could understand and relate to their own life. This is evident in his poem The Village Blacksmith when he writes, And children coming home from school Look in at the open door They love to chance on the flaming forge, And break the bellows roar(Henry 20). When Henry would write in free verse he wasnt writing a poem based on a story he was writing a poem about his life and how he felt. He would look around at the personality anything around him and write about what he felt inside.Henry was a great writer and was very unique in his own way and that is how he became so famous around the world. Overall it is easy to see that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a very famous and well-loved poet. Longfellows life was diabolic with happiness and troubled by tragedy. Many times he stop writing due to depressions however, he managed to return and continue to produce many famous poems. He had many influences and his own unique way of writing his poems using everyday happenings that Americans could relate to easily. His family and his friends influenced him with all the stories that they told him and the many famous literary works that were shared with him. Although Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was influenced by many famous poets and writers he is by far the only American writer of the 19th degree Celsius to truly capture the culture of the time through his literary works.