Historical Profile: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Portland, ME. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was one of the most popular American poets of his day. He was born in Portland, Maine. Longfellow attended Bowdoin College and later became a professor of literature at Bowdoin and Harvard College. In May 1826, Longfellow traveled to Europe and during his trip he learned French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. With his knowledge of foreign languages, Longfellow began translating textbooks from different languages into English. In 1833, he published his first book which was a translation of poetry by the medieval Spanish poet Jorge Manrique. In 1839, Longfellow published his first book of poetry called Voices of the Night . Longfellow spent several years translating Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy . He was the first American to translate the Divine Comedy into English. Longfellow was an abolitionist. In 1878, he wrote in his journal: “I have only one desire; and that is for ha