Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

Paul Revere's Ride

"Listen, my children, and you shall hear/Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere ..." So begins one of the most stirring poems in American literature. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote "Paul Revere's Ride" in 1861, nearly 100 years after the actual midnight ride that began on April 18, in 1775. The poem creates a suspenseful story as American colonist Paul Revere decides with his friend Robert Newman and others to avert a British attack on Concord, Massachusetts. The British had come from Boston in search of the colonists' arms supply. What Revere and his friends didn't know was whether the Redcoats would come by land (around the mouth of the Charles River) or by sea (across the river). Newman spotted the British "by sea" and signaled from the Old North Church tower to Revere, who was "Ready to ride and spread the alarm/Through every Middlesex village and farm,/For the country folk to be up and to arm." And, by morning, the country folk were ready, indeed. "Chasing the red-coats down the lane,/Then crossing the fields to emerge again/Under the trees at the turn of the road,/And only pausing to fire and load." This battle, the first of the American Revolution, drove the British back to Boston.

Ted Rand--well-loved illustrator of The Hullabaloo ABC, Mailing May, Knots on a Counting Rope, and many other critically acclaimed titles--masters the mood and movement of the famous midnight ride, and children will love the power and drama of this historic American event. (Great read-aloud, ages 4 to 8)

Longfellow's classic tribute to the famous revolutionary hero is brought to vivid life by luminous paintings that follow the journey of a daring man riding on horseback under the full moon. Reprint. K. AB.

The Inferno (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Poems and Other Writings (Library of America)

The Inferno (Dover Thrift Editions)

Great Sonnets (Dover Thrift Editions)

Treasury of over 170 English and American sonnets by more than 70 poets, from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Shakespeare’s "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?", Milton’s "On His Blindness," Wordsworth’s "The World Is Too Much with Us," many more by Spenser, Sidney, Blake, Byron, Coleridge, Longfellow, Yeats, Frost, Millay, Poe, etc. Introductory Note. Alphabetical lists of titles and first lines.

Hiawatha (Picture Puffins)

The classic American poem The Song of Hiawatha is developed into a tale covering the childhood of Hiawatha and telling the story of his early years, when he first learned the Native American way of life from his grandmother. Reprint. AB. SLJ.

Longfellow: Selected Poems (Penguin Classics)

A selection of Longfellow's poetry from the 19th century. Revealing differing tones, styles and themes, these works provide a picture of Longfellow's sense of himself, and his understanding of the true state of the times in which he lived.

Paul Revere's Ride: The Landlord's Tale

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere....

So begins Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's stirring tale of Paul Revere's ride and the first battle cry for American independence. Written over a century ago, the words still resonate today.

Now acclaimed artist Charles Santore has turned his attention to this historic event, immortalized in Longfellow's poem. Paul Revere, his horse, the Old North Church, the lantern, Lexington and Concord -- all spring from these pages, and make that famous race against time live once again.

Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie

In 1841, the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow heard the story of Acadian lovers, separated by the Expulsion and reunited at the end of their lives. He elaborated this simple tale into his long narrative poem, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie. Published in 1847, it soon gained worldwide popularity. Longfellow offered Acadians a believable story about their ancestors. They adopted it as a true legend of their past. The tragic story of Evangeline and Gabriel has captivated Acadians and non-Acadians ever since. Evangeline, the dutiful 17-year-old daughter of an elderly Grand Pré farmer, is in love with Gabriel, the blacksmith's son. Before the two can exchange vows, British soldiers march into the village, burn it to the ground, order the villagers into ships, and send them far from their Nova Scotia homeland. In the mayhem, Evangeline witnesses her father's death from a broken heart and loses sight of Gabriel. Her desperate continent-wide search for her childhood sweetheart -- taking her from the cypress groves of Louisiana to a forest mission in the Ozark Mountains -- is one of the most affecting accounts of unfulfilled love ever written. Evangeline is a hero of mythic proportions. This sumptuously produced commemorative edition of Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie coincides with the 400th anniversary of the founding of Acadia. As well as the complete text of the poem, it features more than 40 engravings from an enchanting Victorian Evangeline published in 1866 by Bell and Daldy, London.

The Song of Hiawatha

Initially conceived by Longfellow after reading the works of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, "The Song of Hiawatha" is an epic poem based on the legends of the Ojibway Indians of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The beautiful descriptions of this part of the United States are intertwined with the story of the Native American Hiawatha. From his youth to his marriage, from his daily existence of gathering food to his participation in the traditions of his people, Longfellow weaves a tale of impressive scope in this lyric work. Ultimately, this poem tells the story of the American Indian, including his habitual life, fight for survival, and gradual disappearance at the arrival of white men.