Longfellow Redux

by Christoph Irmscher

The time has come to take another look at Longfellow, America's most popular poet. Christoph Irmscher overturns the modern prejudice against Longfellow as the mere purveyor of literary comfort food. Examining his unpublished papers alongside letters written by his fans at home and abroad, Irmscher offers a fresh view of the poet's connection with his audience. Reviewing Longfellow's idea of authorship, his travels, and his translations, Irmscher demonstrates that Longfellow saw literature as a transnational conversation breaking down social and linguistic barriers. For Longfellow, the poet was less Emerson's "liberating god" than a distributor of cultural goods democratically shared by authors and readers alike. Longfellow Redux is the first book-length study of Longfellow's poetry since 1966 and contains numerous illustrations, including previously unpublished pencil sketches by Longfellow himself.

376 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Christoph Irmscher is Professor of English and Adjunct Professor of History and Philosophy of Science and American Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington. He is the author of Longfellow Redux, The Poetics of Natural History, and Public Poet, Private Man.