A Longfellow Revival

Posted by Linda Sue Grimes Feb 22, 2007

Scholars, Books, Lectures

Christoph Irmscher, Longfellow scholar and English professor at Indiana University, and Longfellow biographer Charles Calhoun are working to bring back some of the luster of early American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was, in his own lifetime, a widely read and respected poet.

Irmscher’s book, Longfellow Redux, was published in 2006. According to Matthew Pearl, editor of Longfellow’s translation of Dante’s Inferno, this book is one of the most important books ever written about Longfellow. Charles Calhoun’s biography of the poet, Longfellow: A Rediscovered Life demonstrates the wide influence the poet had over American culture.

Irmscher says of his own Longfellow scholarship, "It's an attempt to recover the first celebrity poet that America has ever known, probably the most popular poet that ever lived." About Longfellow as a major literary figure, Calhoun explains that Longfellow’s critics denigrate the poetry’s “excess sentimentality,” but according to Calhoun, the emotion dramatized in Longfellow’s works gives readers an accurate understanding of early American history and culture.

In addition to writing scholarly books about their favorite poet, Irmscher and Calhoun also lecture widely about Longfellow. Bowdoin College, from which Longfellow graduated in 1825, will feature a month-long celebration of the poet’s birthday, “Longfellow's 200th Birthday To Be Celebrated Locally and Nationwide.” Irmscher and Calhoun will delivers lectures at this event.

Stamps, the Weather, Schools, and More

On March 15, 2007, a Longfellow Commemorative Stamp will be issued by the U.S. Postal Service. The stamp will feature “Paul Revere’s Ride” with a superimposed portrait of the poet. Hailed as the America’s 19th century poet laureate, Longfellow will become the 23rd such honor of a literary figure to honored with postage stamp.

“Into each life, some rain must fall”: We have all heard this adage, which is a quotation by Longfellow, and so many of them are extant that weather forecasters are being provided with such quotations to work into their weather forecasts.

There are many schools across America that bear the name of the poet. These schools will schedule special event to celebrate their namesake.

The web site, Smithsonian.com, features an article about the poet, “Famous Once Again by Nicholas A. Basbanes.” This article gives a useful introduction to the poet’s life and works.

Longfellow Bicentennial 2007is proving to be a celebrationfrom sea to shining sea for this special poet that America will never forget. And a quotation from Longfellow himself describes his own accomplishment:

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time.