The Courtship Of Miles Standish By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) Essay, Research Paper

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was brought

up as a New England aristocrat steeped in European culture. His works,

written in part as Americanized tributes to the works of Sir Walter Scott,

were very popular during his lifetime, but an antagonistic attitude toward

them later developed among critics with tastes of another age. Today they

are enjoying a revival as early American epic myths. The plot of this simple,

gracefully written poem is reminiscent of Cyrano de Bergerac, but with

twists of its own. Reunited friendship and requited young love told in

the delicate detail of an old-English style, make Longfellow’s poem a classic.