American Literature Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Analysis Teaching procedures Life of Longfellow Main works Literary position Writing Features Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Life story Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Life story  Birth-date: February 27, 1807  Birth-place: Portland, Maine  Bowdoin College ( )  Professorship: Bowdoin( ); Harvard ( )

Life story  Two marriages: ( );( )  1877: National celebration of his 70 th birthday  1882: Death  a bust in Westminster Abbey’s Poet’s Corner

The fireside poets  “schoolroom” or “household” poets  conventional forms, rhyme and strict metrical cadences  most remembered for their longer narrative poems (Evangeline and Hiawatha)  John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, and William Cullen Bryant

Main Works  1839 Voices of the Night  1841 Ballads and Other Poems  1847 Evangeline  1855 The Song of Hiawatha  1863 Tales of a Wayside Inn  1867 Divine Comedy

A Psalm of Life (What the Heart of the Young Man said to the Psalmist) Background Structure Writing features theme Text study

background  first published in Voices of the Night  very influential in China  written: his 1 st wife died in 1835  despite all the frustrations, Longfellow tried to encourage himself by writing a piece of optimistic word

A psalm is a sacred song or a hymn

Listening

Stanza One  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. verses sleeps being alive and awake does not mean that one is living. Some do not take part in life. metaphor is

Stanza Two  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. a sign of promise of what is to come not meant to live and die, meant to be remembered  Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Dust thou art, to dust returnest, parallelism

Stanza Three  Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,  Is our destined end our way;  But to act, that much to-morrow  Find us farther than to-day. what we have acquired how much we have in the end

Stanza Four  Art is long, and Time is fleeting,  And our hearts, though stout and brave,  Still, like muffled drums, are beating  Funeral marches to the grave. little time our bodies may grow weak Our time is limited  Art is long, and Time is fleeting, Art is long, and Time is fleeting, Simile like

Stanza Five  In the world’s broad field of battle,  In the bivouac of Life,  Be not like dumb, driven cattle!  Be a hero in the strife! like Struggles: temporary the goals: better Be brave a temporary encampment of troops simile

Stanza Six  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 Simply live in the present. Rid of anything holding you back anything making you fearful of moving on  Let the dead Past bury its dead! Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Stanza Seven  Lives of great men all remind us  We can make our lives sublime,  And, departing, leave behind us  Footprints on the sands of time; Live a life that will be remembered respectable, worthy

Stanza Eight  Footprints, that perhaps another,  Sailing o’er life solemn main,  A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,  Seeing, shall take heart again. Pass on the great spirit set an example for others open ocean

Stanza Nine  Let us, then, be up and doing,  With a heart for any fate;  Still achieving, still pursuing,  Learn to labor and to wait. live life with courage and hope Work very hard and be patient

What is life? How to live your life?

Life has a serious mission. Life does not end with death. Time is too short for our long mission. Become great by emulating great men. Learn to labor and wait for results. Act now, in the living present. Be a hero in the struggle of life.

Themes  courage and patience : important virtues on our path of self-actualization.  hard work and endless labor: reach that point in life before Death  seize the day  beautify our present and develop the self and the soul.

style  very ornate  not address the central idea in a direct way  weaves it through a wonderful play of words, engaged in metaphors, allusions and symbols etc.  Form and structure: nine stanzas of four lines  abab.

perfect exemplification  European traditions:  the way the poet has formulated and expressed his thoughts  identified with the British poetry of the Victorian period.

contributions  Bridge between Europe and America  ---transplant the European meter to America (Evangeline)  ---adopt the Finnish folk song meter (The Song of Hiawatha)  One of the first of American writers to deal with the native themes

 First, easy rhyme  Second, obvious themes  third, joyousness, a spirit of optimism and faith in the goodness of life. The most popular American poet in the 19th century. Literary position

Summary Your summary analysis Literary position Life story Writing features

llusion:  Allusion is a reference to other works or cultures in prose and poetry.  Genesis 3: 19  “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

llusion:  Hippocrates’ Second Law: Life is short, the art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult.  [hi’p ɔ krəti:z] （希腊的名医）希波克拉底 （约公元前 460- 约公元前 370, 古希腊医师, 称 医药之父）

llusion:  Matthew 8:22  “But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.”