originally published 1/1/2002

Poet and critic Dana Gioia explains why Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) is one of the three great American poets. He was one of the first to understand that accounts of American nationality had to recognize the country’s “extraordinary diversity” in order to be truly representative of the nation. He practiced what he believed and wrote about French Canadian Catholics in the Midwest, early British Puritans in New England, and Native Americans before the “white man” settled in North America. He was a master at developing atmosphere in his works and was very popular even in his own lifetime; his poetry appealed to readers across every age, social class, and region in the United States. Gioia says, “He . . . was an extraordinarily sophisticated intellectual poet, but his gift was to take all of that learning and wear it lightly . . . And it’s that combination . . . of profound intelligence and the common touch that was Longfellow’s calling card.”

30 minutes

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