“I most eagerly aspire after future eminence in literature; my whole soul burns ardently for it, and every earthly thought centres in it”. –-Longfellow

The Bowdoin graduating Class of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow has been reckoned to have contained more students of remarkable promise than any time in the history of the university. Some notable scholars and classmates of Longfellow were: John S. C. Abbott, the historian; J. W. Bradbury, Pierce, Josiah Little, ad Jonathan Cilley, all politicians of more or less note; George B. Cheever preacher and author, Castor and Pollux of American Literature and Nathaniel Hawthorne (spelled Hathorne at that time) who revealed of his classmates:

“ From the exterior of the collegians, an accurate observer might pretty safely judge how long they had been inmates of those classic walls…A few young men had found their way hither from the distant seaports, models of fashion, who asserted a superiority in exterior accomplishments, though unpolished, intellect of the sons of the forst denied them in their literary competitions”(Fanshawe, produced at Boston, 1828)

How did Longfellow gain notoriety from among this impressive group of notables?

First, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow graduated from Bowdoin at nineteen and was distinguished to deliver one of three “English Orations” at his graduation. He chose as his theme “Native Writers”. One of the College Trustees who was present, Mr. Benjamin Orr, was so impressed with Longfellow’s translation from Horace that he recommended him to be “Chair of Modern Languages”(Life of Longfellow, 27)! After accepting, Longfellow proceeded to Europe to acquire the additional languages necessary to be a Professor of Modern Languages.

Secondly, Longfellow was already distinguished from his circle in literary performances in America at that time. He had letters and some twenty contributions to The American Monthly Magazine, and The United States Literary Gazette. In addition, he had produced “Thanatopsis”, a work of solemn grandeur.

What about the thousands of emigrants in the newly formed United States as a resource?

As I was writing this, I began to think on the irony that even though Longfellow lived in a new Country that encouraged and welcomed emigrants from all over Europe, he chose to travel to their countries in order to learn the language. The Colonies were a melting pot of little pockets of native speakers from Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Spain, and many more countries. What an opportunity to learn the cultures and language of Europe right here on our soil. Yet, I understand the great importance of Longfellow’s desire to be immersed in these native countries which held literature from their writers and scholars, to attend university lectures from these world renowned Professors, and to visit imposing architecture and landscapes.

In addition, having been educated in a young America, Longfellow did not have access to Academic journals, literature, and languages. Robertson points out the English settlers had far more to do than sit down and write. Most settlers were clearing wheat, farming, clearing timber, and building. There was little use of “dreaming alone during daylight. The ‘Britishers’ in the early Colonies were delving, stockading, felling trees, and shooting natives”(34)[ keep in mind that Robertson wrote this in 1887!]. Washington Irving wrote, “No American has produced a book that Europe cared to lay on the shelf for a second reading”(43). Longfellow must have felt, as well, that there was room for an ambitious American man of letters to remedy this!

In the article “The Many Lives of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow”, Cordon Ireland states,  “Longfellow was a multiculturalist before the term was even invented. He believed in the educational efficacy of foreign travel, and thought American literature was best understood by way of its multiple European roots. At Harvard, Longfellow started the first comparative literature program in the country, and introduced the idea that modern languages should be taught by native speakers” (Harvard Gazette, Feb. 1, 2007).

A Plea to his Father

Longfellow penned a letter to his father concerning the proposal to Chair Modern Languages at Harvard. In this letter, Longfellow informed:

“I take this opportunity to write to you with regard to the profession I am to pursue when I leave college…I most eagerly aspire after future eminence in literature; my whole soul burns ardently for it, and every earthly thought centres in it. There may be something visionary in this…Surely, there never was a better opportunity offered for the exertion of literary talent in our country than is now offered” (31).

Is his Father convinced at this point that a pursuit of literature is higher than Theology, Law, or Medicine? Longfellow states that these practices are “evidently lost time… we must pay more attention to the opinion of philosophers that ‘nothing but Nature can qualify a man for knowledge”.

Longfellow continues, “Nature has given me a strong predilection for literary pursuits, and I am confident in believing that if I can ever rise in the world, it must be by the exercise of my talent in the wide field of literature…to float out into the world upon that tide and in that channel which will the soonest bring me to my destined port, and not to struggle against both wind and tide, and by attempting what is impossible lose everything”(31).

His father sent Longfellow to Europe with his blessing and some funds to help him fulfill his passions.

Longfellow returned to his native land in September 1829 and became a cultivated Professor of Modern Languages as one of the youngest, most accomplished scholars in America (51). He set out at once translating works from French to English and from Spanish (Spain) to English. He started each morning hearing French recitations by the “sophomores”, taught classes, studied and wrote systematic courses in French, Spanish, and Italian literature.

Oh, to have been a student in one of Longfellow’s lectures….

Work Cited

Eric S. Robertson. Life of Longfellow. London; Walter Scott 1887