237 Famous Quotes by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
2/27/1807 - 3/24/1984
Also Known As:
Wadsworth Henry Longfellow
Henry W Longfellow
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About Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy and was one of the five Fireside Poets.
Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, then part of Massachusetts, and studied at Bowdoin College. After spending time in Europe he became a professor at Bowdoin and, later, at Harvard College. His first major poetry collections were Voices of the Night and Ballads and Other Poems. Longfellow retired from teaching in 1854 to focus on his writing, living the remainder of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a former headquarters of George Washington. His first wife Mary Potter died in 1835 after a miscarriage. His second wife Frances Appleton died in 1861 after sustaining burns when her dress caught fire. After her death, Longfellow had difficulty writing poetry for a time and focused on his translation. He died in 1882.
Longfellow wrote predominantly lyric poems, known for their musicality and often presenting stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and also had success overseas. He has been criticized, however, for imitating European styles and writing specifically for the masses.
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Oh, there is something in that voice that reaches
The innermost recesses of my spirit!
Voice
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Source: Christus (pt. I, The Divine Tragedy, The First Passover, pt. VI)
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There's a brave fellow! There's a man of pluck!
A man who's not afraid to say his say,
Though a whole town's against him.
Bravery
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Source: Christus (pt. III, John Endicott, act II, sc. 2)
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Then from the neighboring thicket the mockingbird, wildest of
singers,
Swinging aloft on a willow spray that hung o'er the water.
Shook from his little throat such floods of delirious music,
That the whole air and the woods and the waves seemed silent to
listen.
Mockingbirds
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Source: Evangeline (pt. II, st. 2)
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Sweet April! many a thought
Is wedded unto thee, as hearts are wed;
Nor shall they fail, till, to its autumn brought,
Life's golden fruit is shed.
April
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Source: An April Day (st. 8)
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A solid man of Boston;
A comfortable man with dividends,
And the first salmon and the first green peas.
Boston
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Source: New England Tragedies--John Endicott (act IV)
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Spake full well, in language quaint and olden,
One who dwelleth by the castled Rhine,
When he call'd the flowers, so blue and golden,
Stars that on earth's firmament do shine.
Daisies
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Source: Flowers (st. 1)
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Tell your master that if there were as many devils at Worms as
tiles on its roofs, I would enter.
Devil
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Source: Christus--The Golden Legend (epilogue, last stanza)
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Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul. Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem.
Life
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Trust no future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead past bury its dead!
Act,--act in the living Present!
Heart within and God o'erhead.
Future
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Source: A Psalm of Life
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There are moments in life, when the heart is so full of emotion That if by chance it be shaken, or into its depths like a pebble Drops some careless word, it overflows, and its secret, Spilt on the ground like water, can never be gathered together
Emotion
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do without thought of fame. If it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after.
Fame
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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There are moments in life, when the heart is so full of emotion That if by chance it be shaken, or into its depths like a pebble Drops some careless word, it overflows, and its secret, Spilt on the ground like water, can never be gathered together
Heart
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Kind hearts are the gardens, Kind thoughts are the roots, Kind words are the flowers, Kind deeds are the fruits, Take care of your garden And keep out the weeds, Fill it with sunshine Kind words and kind deeds
Kindness
Quotes, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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