2.  Born in Portland, Maine  Loved to read as a boy  Heard sailors talking in French, Spanish, and German  Loved stories set in foreign countries (Arabian Nights, Robinson Crusoe, and Shakespeare’s plays)

3.  Graduated from Bowdoin College  Traveled and studied abroad (Spain, France, Italy, and Germany)  Began is teaching career at Bowdoin (five years)  Traveled overseas again  His first wife died of a miscarriage

4.  Taught French and Spanish at Harvard for 18 years  Married his second wife, Frances Appleton  Fathered six children  Began writing full time in 1854  His wife died tragically  Her dress caught fire, he tried to save her, and was badly burned himself

5.  Long narrative poems  Evangeline (1847) and The Song of Hiawatha (1855)  Poems  “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “The Village Blacksmith”

6.  14 line poem, usually written in iambic pentameter  First part usually introduces a subject; the last part makes a comment on the subject  Two early masters of the sonnet  Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374) and William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

7.  Consists of an octave (first 8 lines) and sestet (last 6 lines)  Rhyme scheme abba, abba, cde, cde

8.  Wrote 18 years after Fanny died (she caught on fire)  This poem was discovered after Longfellow’s death  Inspired by two portraits – one of Fanny; the other “Mountain of the Holy Cross”