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Diary of
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
by Pete
I have been admitted to
Bowdoin College. It
will be fun and I will be able to start anew with my teachers and the
people in the area. I can not wait for summer to end and
start classes at Bowdoin. Hope I will have the time to construct
poetry there, aside from homework and classes.
 Click play to hear my story |
April
10,
1820
Dear Diary,
My mom made
salmon tonight for dinner. We do not often get to have a good meal like
salmon for dinner. Today was an outstanding day, I wrote my
first poem that was published today by the newspaper. I could not
believe it. Maybe I will be a writer when I grow up.Dear Diary,
July 16, 1822
Dear Diary,
I have been admitted to Bowdoin College. It will be fun and I will be able to start anew with my teachers and the people in the area. I can not wait for summer to end and start classes at Bowdoin. Hope I will have the time to construct poetry there, aside from homework and classes.
August 29, 1822
Dear Diary,
Today was my first day of classes and it was as fun as I thought it would be. One of my classmates is Nathaniel Hawthorne, who also looks like a pleasant writer and a good person as well. One of the teachers in Bowdoin commented to me on my talent in writing and other languages.
June 3, 1824
Dear Diary,
This was a fantastic day. I graduated from Bowdoin college and was selected to fill a position as a modern languages professor at Bowdoin. I think before I take the position I will go to Europe to study other languages such as French, Spanish, Italian, and German. When I return I hope to then apply for the position as the first modern languages teacher.
July 20, 1829
Dear Diary,
I am finally back home in Portland after my long trip to Europe. I have now mastered French, Spanish, Italian and I have started to master German. I am now able to work at Bowdoin College and take up the position as the first modern languages professor. I have not produced a lot of poetry lately so I hope I will have some time to fashion poetry.
August 16, 1839
Dear Diary,
I have not composed very much poetry these last ten years. It is mostly because I have spent almost all of my time with scholarly writing, translating and prose writing. I really hope to get back to my passion for creating poetry.
April 16,1860
Dear Diary,
Today while I was studying American mythology I stumbled across a noble man called Paul Revere and I convinced myself to try and organize a fabulous poem on him so the rest of the day I spent my time looking for information on Paul Revere. This man reminded me of my grandfather Peleg Longfellow who I heard stories about being a General in the British army and how he was a hero.
April 17, 1860
Dear Diary,
Today I got a chance to get a lot of my writting done. I believe this is going to be an absolutely fantastic poem. The beginning of the poem is superb and the rest connects so well.
April 18,1860
Dear Diary,
Once again I have been composing my poem all day and I am almost finished but I need to think of a great ending for the poem. I have no idea on how long it will take.
April 19, 1860,
Dear Diary,
I finally thought of the ending for my poem on a man called Paul Revere and his midnight ride to warn us that the british were coming. The poem begins like this.
Listen
my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five,
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five,
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
I called it “The Midnight Ride
of Paul Revere.” I really hope the publisher accepts it.
April 20, 1860,
Dear Diary,
I got back feedback from the publishers today. They said it was one of the best historical poems they had ever read and said they plan to publish it and make many more copies so everyone can read it. I hope that if people remember me that they remember me by not just the poem but the life of writing and languages that I had and still have today.
Epilogue
Longfellow’s wife died when she set her dress on fire while waxing a stamp on July 9, 1861. He to was so badly burnt and so grief stricken that he couldn’t attend his own wife's funeral. In 1868 he traveled to Europe for the last time accompanied by his children. He published over twenty books, the last book he wrote was In the Harbor, in 1882. He died on March 24, 1882. Henry lays in his eternal rest in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.