Fireside Poets Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, Lowell, Bryant

Fireside PoetsFireside Poets

Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, Lowell, Bryant

Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, Lowell, Bryant

Fireside Poets

Called “Fireside Poets” because families used to read and discuss their poetry around the fire

Similar to the way families sometimes watch TV together

Fireside Poets

These poets preferred conventional forms of poetryNo experimentation with

spelling or punctuation

Fireside Poets

Their regular rhyme scheme and meter (rhythm) made them fun to read and easy to remember - catchy

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

“Psalm of Life”

“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Longfellow

Born in MaineHis poetry has been

translated into 24 languages

Longfellow

Attended Bowdoin CollegeClassmate was Nathaniel

Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter)

1825: Graduated 3rd in class

Longfellow

At 18, hired to teach “Modern Languages” at Bowdoin College

Hired under the condition that he travel Europe to study foreign languages

Also, he had to write his own textbooks

Longfellow

While in Spain, met and spent time with Washington Irving

Longfellow

1836: Hired as professor of “Modern Languages” at Harvard

Also asked to spend time in Europe for language training

Longfellow

Married twice: both wives died Mary: Died of complications during

a miscarriageWrote “Footsteps of Angels” about her

Frances: Died in a house fireHenry also injured

Face was burned, could no longer shave

Longfellow

Despite tragedies of his wives’ deaths, poems became sentimental and optimistic

1839: Voices of the Night published1st collection of poems

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)

“Barbara Frietchie”

“The Slave Ships”

Whittier

Born in MassachusettsSon of devout QuakersGrew up on a farm

Very little formal schooling

Whittier

1826 (19 years old): 1st published poem - “The Exile’s Departure”

Whittier

1827-1828: Attended Haverhill AcademyEarned his living as a

shoemaker and schoolteacher

Whittier

Followed Quaker faithVery devoted to social

causes and reformWorked for and edited

abolitionist newspapers and magazines

His = New England Weekly Review

Whittier

1831: Delegate in Republican Convention in support of Senator Henry Clay

Whittier

1831- 1860s: Wrote essays, poems, and prose mostly about abolition of slavery

Whittier

1832: Ran for CongressWas not elected

Whittier

1834: Elected into MA State Legislature for Whig Party Whig Party was formed to oppose

Andrew Jackson and his Democrats They believed Congress should

have more power than Executive Branch

“Whig” had been the nickname for the colonial patriots of the Am. Rev.

Whittier

1835: Mobbed and stoned (not like that) in New Hampshire because of a speech about abolition

Whittier

1838: Office of his newspaper, The Pennsylvania Freeman, was burned to the ground by a pro-slavery mob

Whittier

Founding member of the Liberty PartyDevoted to freeing slaves

Whittier

1850s: Worked for the formation of the Republican Party

1859: Engaged to Elizabeth Lloyd HowellHe called off the wedding

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

“Old Ironsides”

“The Chambered Nautilus”

Holmes

Born in MassachusettsFather was a Calvinist

clergyman (Focuses on Grace of God,

Predestination)

Holmes

1829: Graduated from Harvard

1836: Earned Medical degree from Harvard

Holmes

Began professional life in medical field

Switched to Academic field

Holmes

1838-1840: Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Dartmouth College

1847-1853: Dean of Harvard Medical School

1847-1882: Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Harvard

Holmes

Published 2 important Harvard lectures“On the Nature of Fevers”“Homeopathy and its Kindred

Delusions” (against Homeopathy)Treatment of disease by

injecting a small amount of the disease

Holmes

“Old Ironsides” - 1st important poemWritten in protest of the

destruction of the USS Constitution (War of 1812)

Wrote important biography of Ralph Waldo Emerson

James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)

“War”“My Love”

Lowell

Born in MassachusettsFather was a Unitarian

minister

Lowell

1834: Began at Harvard (15 years old)

1838: Graduated from Harvard

1840: Earned Harvard Law degree

Lowell

1843: Started a literary magazine

The Pioneer failed after 2 issues

Lowell

1844: Married Maria WhiteShe was a strong abolitionist

Lowell

1848: The Bigelow PapersOne of his best known worksCollections of essays, stories,

poetry1st series: Opposed

Mexican-American War2nd series: Supported the

North in the Civil War

Lowell

1855-1876: Professor of Modern Languages at Harvard (after Longfellow)

Lowell

1877: Appointed as Foreign Minister to LondonWhile in England, he worked

to promote the respect of American literature

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)

“Thanatopsis”

Bryant

Born in MassachusettsSon of a highly respected

physician who loved natureEncouraged his son to explore

nature

Bryant

1804: (10 years old), he translated other poems from Latin to English

Got these published in newspapers

Bryant

1812: Left Williams College to pursue Law degree

1815: Admitted to the BarPracticed law for 10 years

to earn money

Bryant

1813: His grandfather & his friend’s fiancée died

Same year, at 19, wrote “Thanatopsis”Said he composed it while

wandering through the woods“Thanatos” = death“Opsis” = vision

Bryant

1829: Moved to New York City

Became Editor-in-Chief of Evening Post

Bryant

Outspoken supporter of women’s rights

Outspoken opponent of slavery

Bryant

Helped bring about the American version of the Romantic MovementDeath and nature were 2 of

the favorite topics of Romantics