Fireside Poets Essay, Research Paper

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and James Russell

Lowell were great poets of their time. Although, they

have many similarities, they also are very different.

Both Longfellow and Lowell were great writers of

their time. They were both poets in a group of four

called the Fireside Poets. The Fireside Poets were great

writers in the 1800?s. Longfellow and Lowell were born

into rich families. They aslo often wrote about nature,

Longfellow wrote ?The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls? and ?A

Psalm of Life?. Lowell wrote ?The First Snowfall? and

?Auspex? . All of these poems have to do with nature,

although the stories behind each poem are different.

They also both had much tragedy in their life. Both had

lost loved ones. Longfellow suffered the tragic deaths of

two wives. His wife, Mary Potter, suffered a miscarriage

and died of the resulting infection. Eight years later

Longfellow married Frances Appleton. The marriage was cut

short when she dies in a fire. Longfellow grew a think

beard to cover the scars he received when he went into the

house to try to save her. For Lowell, tragedy also hit.

Three of his four children died in infancy and he lost his

wife as well.

ADAMS 2

Longfellow and Lowell also had many differences.

Longfellow was educated at Bowdoin College. He then

pursued further studies in Europe and later became a

professor at Bowdoin. Later he became a professor of

Modern Languages at Harvard. Lowell went to Harvard

Law School but disliked it and gave it up after three years.

He then went toward his passion of poetry. Longfellow

grew to be known as the most famous fireside poet. He

( unlike Lowell ) was able to overcome all the tragedy in his

life to excel in his poetry. Lowell?s writing was deeply

flawed by his sorrow. He wrote poetry about his sorrow.

In ?The First Snowfall? , he writes about his deceased

children. That is why Longfellow became the most famous

fireside poet.

In closing, both Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and

James Russell Lowell were great writers of their time who

have had a strong influence on many people. Their poetry

will live on forever