Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

1807-1882
 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
 Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow is noted as the
most popular American
poet of the nineteenth
century. His poetry and
narrative works are lyrical
with an easy rhythm,
making them memorable.
Uplifting with topics the
"every man" can relate to,
Longfellow's poetry hums
in people's minds like a
favorite song.
 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
 Life
 Works
 Evaluation
 A Psalm of Life
 Life
 Longfellow was born in Maine.
 One of his grandfathers was a state Senator and the other
grandfather had been a Revolutionary War general and a
Congressman.
 Following his graduation in 1826 from Bowdoin College,
where he was a classmate of Nathaniel Hawthorne,
Longfellow went to Europe to study.
 When he returned to the United States three years later, he
taught European languages, first at Bowdoin and then at
Harvard.
 After 18 years of teaching at Harvard, he resigned his
position because he felt it interfered with his writing.
 Works
 Voices of the Night 1839 《夜籁集》
 Ballads and Other Poems 1841《歌谣及其他》
 Evangeline 1847 《伊凡吉林》
 Hiawatha 《海华沙之歌》
 Tales of a Wayside Inn 1863, 1872, 1873
《路边酒肆的故事》
 Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems
1845 《布鲁茨的钟楼及其他》
 “A Psalm of Life” 1838 《人生礼赞》
 Evaluation
 During the last years of his life, Longfellow
received many honors, including honorary degrees
from Cambridge and Oxford Universities in
England.
 After his death, a bust of Longfellow was placed
in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey—the
first American to be so honored.
 In the late 19th century, Longfellow was without a
doubt the most popular American poet.
 A Psalm of Life
 It was first published in Voice of the Night in the
September edition of New York Monthly in 1839.
It is very influential in China, because it is said to
the first English poem translated into Chinese.
 The poem was written in 1838 when Longfellow
was struck with great dismay; his wife died in
1835, and his courtship of a young woman was
unrequired. However, despite all the frustrations,
Longfellow tried to encourage himself by writing
a piece of optimistic work.
 A Psalm of Life
 The relationship of life and death is a constant
theme for poets. Longfellow expresses his
pertinent interpretation to that by warning us that
though life is hard and everybody must die, time
flies and life is short, yet, human beings ought to
be bold “to act,” to face the reality straightly so as
to make otherwise meaningless life significant.

 The poem consists of 9 stanzas in trochaic

tetrameters. It is rhymed “abab.”
 The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls
 "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls" has three
stanzas of five lines each. The rhyme scheme for
the entire poem is aabba aacca aadda, with the
"alls"-sounding words ("walls," "stalls," "falls")
making up many of the rhymes. Note that in each
stanza, Longfellow repeats the rhymed words
"falls" and "calls." Note, also, the repetition of the
same refrain at the end of each stanza. This
unvarying repetition helps to create the impression
of an unchanging natural world.
 The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls
 Each line of "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls" has from
seven to ten syllables. Longfellow avoids using a regular
metric scheme for the entire poem, but individual lines do
have an identifiable rhythm. Line 3, for instance, is in
iambic tetrameter. An iamb is a poetic foot consisting of
two syllables, the first unstressed and the second stressed,
as in the word "returns." Tetrameter means that there are
four feet in each line. Iambic tetrameter, then, is a form of
meter that has four iambs in each line. When the stressed
syllables are identified in line 3, the rhythm becomes clear.
The End