Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882) was an American poet who wrote extensively about nature and its intersection with humankind. Born in Portland, Maine, he grew up surrounded by woods and a coastline that inspired nature poetry about his childhood, like “My Lost Youth” (1856). He studied at Bowdoin College and pursued a postgraduate degree in literature and modern languages, supported by his steadily-increasing popularity in written prose and poetry.
He fought for the recognition and inclusion of poetry in modern American culture, when much of the population believed there to be no place for it. At a time when America was just finding its place, building its infrastructure and searching for its foundation, Longfellow contributed by putting emphasis on the separation of the country’s culture from Great Britain’s. In his 1832 review essay titled “In Defence of Poetry,” he argued that both prose and poetry can provide an important distinction between the American world and the British one. Most of what was known about nature came from literature originating in Britain. America had such different flora and fauna, and Longfellow encouraged poets and writers to discover it, to reflect it in their writing and take a look around them, rather than mimicking what has already been written. With this influence, he increased the popularity of American poetry; especially with nature influences.
He believed in a reciprocal relationship between nature and humans.
Resources
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (U.S. National Park Service)
- Longfellow’s Nature Poetry (U.S. National Park Service)
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | Poetry Foundation
- Audre Lorde | Poetry Foundation
- Lucille Clifton | Poetry Foundation
- Melvin Dixon | Poetry Foundation
- Mary Oliver | Poetry Foundation
- Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry by Camille T. Dungy
Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15ZLWI_vrRGlVKPxMjz8EnhC18Q9sPDNpADkcEBPge4I/edit?usp=sharing