Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Selected Poems

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Labour with what zeal we will,
Something still remains undone,
Something uncompleted still
Waits the rising of the sun.
--from "Something Left Undone" From his youthful works to his final, mature poems, the breadth and beauty of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poetry is on display in this wonderful compilation. "A Psalm of Life," which opens the collection, comes from Longfellow's very first book, while "L'Envoi" captures the chill feel of oncoming death. Also included are the ever-popular "Evangeline," "The Song of Hiawatha," "The Wreck of the Hesperus," and more.

Genres: Poetry

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

An extremely popular American poet in his own lifetime, Longfellow's best-known works include The Song of Hiawatha (1855), a translation of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, done in 1864-67, Paul Revere's Ride and Evangeline. He's one of the New England poets now typically referred to as the Fireside Poets.

Longfellow graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825, and after studying in Europe for several years subsequently became Bowdoin's professor of modern languages and librarian. After further study in Europe, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to become professor of modern languages at Harvard in 1836. Meanwhile, Mary Potter Longfellow, his first wife, had died in 1835, following a miscarriage.

His first published collections of poetry were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841). In 1854, he retired from teaching to focus on his writing. His second wife, Frances Appleton Longfellow, died in 1861 of burns sustained when her dress caught fire. After her death, for some time Longfellow had difficulty writing original poetry, and focused on translations from foreign languages.

Longfellow wrote lyric poetry noted for its musicality, and often presented stories of mythology and legend. He frequently imitated European poetic styles (and his work was popular in Europe in his day, as well as in the U.S.). As a Romantic poet, he seeks primarily to express and to evoke emotion in his poetry.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having only briefly grazed "Psalm of Life," "Song of Hiawatha," and "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" during my English major days, I truly enjoyed getting more breadth and depth of Longfellow. I was genuinely edified by many of the poems, and the girls got used to me reading a poem aloud, pausing for a while, then getting up to grab a pen so I could underline a few lines. It generated much discussion and had enough richness and meaning to get my English teacher brain flowing for some on-the-fly elementary-level poetry analysis lessons. Perfect companion read to early American History in home school, and definitely a keeper.

The girls' review: Pretty good. Too much death. (This is their review of most poetry beyond Milne and Silverstein.)

Fun note: At the same time, we were listening to The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place in the car. It turns out that Longfellow's "The Wreck of the Hesperus," which we had just read, is a large plot point in that book! I squealed! Fun incidental connection--one we'll never forget.

[Samantha Matherne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Longfellow’s poetry is beautiful and enjoyable. His lyrical writing is so melodic that even when it does not rhyme, I found it soothing. The only drawback was reading it after a long day quickly found me soothed to bear sleep.

I was most excited to read “Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie”, being from south Louisiana (although, I’m not Cajun by blood that I know of). The story was historical, sweet, and impact. I only wish that the ending was different, because Longfellow left me wanting more than his version portrayed.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a choice between this smaller volume of selected poems and the larger tomb of collected from the library so I went with this for an intro, but in this case, I think it might be better to go ahead and read most of the collected. I often find with poetry selections—especially with english writing poets that are easy to find—that it’s better to read the collected and pick and choose as one personally desires. I liked the poems, it was just too slim for my liking and I have a feeling I will prefer a different selection of poems than the editor selected here.

[Carolyn Bolding · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long time since I read Longfellow. Delighted!

[T H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longfellow gets better with age, especially as he is confronted with his own mortality (as so many artists do).

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am no great critic of poetry. Most of the time I get bored with it pretty quickly but I quite enjoyed this book of poetry. I picked it up after reading a book about Longfellow meeting and courting his second wife and decided to read some of his work. If any of you happen to outlive me and attend my funeral, I hope that someone will read the poem titled "a psalm for life" for me. It has just enough hope to be inspirational and hopefully inspiring enough to move those who are survivors to good works.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough about poetry to give any kind of proper review, but I did enjoy reading this. The version I read (not the one pictured, but it was the closest I could find) included a number of short poems as well as Evangaline, an excerpt from The Song of Hiawatha, and The Courtship of Miles Standish. I enjoyed getting more familiar with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poetry.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice to "get back into" Longfellow. I taught only a few of his poems, and that was several years ago. I remember starting "Evangeline" and really enjoying the beauty of the language; don't remember if I ever finished it. See more here: http://www.themundanemuse.blogspot.co...

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

some of this unreadable, some famously misused as disciplinary implements, but the poems to his wife are to make a grown man cry

[Barbara Molina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading older classics is soul satisfying.