“What a writer asks of his reader is not so much to like as to listen.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Eminently quotable, Longfellow was born on this date in 1807 and rose to become a world-renowned poet.
Longfellow wrote many lyric poems not just known for their musicality but also for presenting stories of mythology and legend, including the renowned Song of Hiawatha and the favorite of school children almost from its first day, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.
He was the most popular American poet – and perhaps writer – of his day, so admired in the U.S. that his poems commanded huge fees. Young people would turn out to welcome him much like rock stars of today are greeted when they come to town, and his 70th birthday was celebrated like a national holiday with parades, speeches, and the reading of his poetry.
Despite that rock star status, “overnight success” for Longfellow didn’t come until he’d been writing for more than 20 years and he advised all writers to “stay strong” in their writing efforts. “Perserverance is a great element of success,” he said. “If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody eventually.”
No comments:
Post a Comment