Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, February 27, 1807.
His father and mother were of English stock, his mother being a descendant
of "John Alden and Priscilla." Stephen Longfellow, his father, was a lawyer
and statesman. Henry's school life began at the age of three. When he was
six years old he could read, spell and multiply, and at the age of seven was
half way through his Latin grammar. He early showed a taste for reading, and
read not only his father's small stock of books, but frequented the Portland
Library and book stores. "The Battle of Lovell's Pond" was his first poem,
written when he was thirteen. He entered Bowdoin College at the age of
fourteen, graduating in 1825. During the latter part of his student
life there he began to show a considerable literary bent. Shortly after
graduating from Bowdoin, Longfellow was elected Professor of Modern
Languages in that institution. Before entering upon his work, he spent three
years in study and travel in Europe, returning to America in 1829. For five
and one-half years he taught in Bowdoin, during which time he began serious
work as an author. In 1834, Harvard called him to the chair of Modern
Languages. He again made a trip to Europe for further study. Longfellow was
connected with Harvard for nineteen years, resigning his position in 1854 to
devote his whole time to literature.

His two principal prose works are "Outre Mer" and "Hyperion." The latter was
followed by a volume of poems entitled "Voices of the Night." "Ballads and
Other Poems" appeared in 1841, and showed much more talent. "Evangeline" was
written in 1847; "Hiawatha" in 1855, and the "Courtship of Miles Standish"
in 1857. "Evangeline" and "Hiawatha" are considered the best of his longer
poems. "The Building of the Ship" and "Excelsior" are perhaps the best known
of his shorter poems.

Longfellow died at Cambridge in 1882.

THE POEM.

"Evangeline" is considered Longfellow's masterpiece among his longer
poems. It is said to have been the author's favorite. It has a universal
popularity, having been translated into many languages.

E.C. Stedman styles it the "Flower of American Idyls."

"Evangeline" is a Narrative poem, since it tells a story. Some of the
world's greatest poems have been of this kind, notably the "Iliad" and the
"Odyssey" of Homer, and the "Aeneid," of Virgil. It may be also classified
as an Idyl, which is a simple, pastoral poem of no great length.

Poetry has b