Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Notes and Discussion Questions

America’s “Schoolroom” / “Household” / “Fireside” Poets:

• William Cullen Bryant
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Oliver Wendell Holmes
• John Greenleaf Whittier
• James Russell Lowell

Reasons for their popularity in the 19th century:

• Their use of traditional poetic subjects and forms
• Their regular and familiar rhythms, rhymes, diction, and images
• Their high-mindedness, patriotism, and espousal of the traditional values of an achievement-oriented society
• Their celebration of the family and domestic life

Reasons for the decline in popularity of the Schoolroom Poets in the 20th century:

• The changes in poetic style
• The changes in beliefs
• The end of the role of the poet as public oracle (wise man or prophet)
• The decline of the tradition of expansive optimism
• The decline of unified cultural ideals and the rise of pluralistic values
• The widening gulf between high-brow and popular culture

Role of the schoolroom poets as official spokesmen for the majority is now performed in large part by:

• Writers for mass-circulation publications
• Television pundits
• Popular, evangelical preachers of radio and television

What public role has continued to be maintained or has come to be assumed by the modern poet?

Discussion Questions:

1.) To the degree that the poet is a PERSONA in Longfellow’s poems, how would you characterize his voice, tone, and attitude?

2.) What elements cause him to come across as a rather elderly, congenial, thoughtful male?

3.) What messages, themes, ideas, images, etc. do you get from Longfellow’s poetry?

4.) How does Longfellow compare to the other poets we’ve read so far?

• Bradstreet
• Taylor
• Wheatley
• Freneau
• Bryant

5.) Compare and contrast Longfellow and other “Romantic” poets:

• Bryant
• Whittier
• Holmes
• Lowell
• Poe
• Whitman
• Dickinson