Celebrity Graveland

February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a popular American Romantic poet whose lyrical poems often depicted historic or mythological narratives. Perhaps his most famous work is “Paul Revere’s Ride.”

Longfellow was born in Portland, ME and attended Bowdoin College. He spent many years abroad in Europe and learned a number of languages. This would lead to him becoming one of the more important translators of the 19th Century. In fact, he was the first American to translate Dante’s Divine Comedy. Though his works were met with popular success, his life was filled with tragedy. Both of his wives died young and tragically. After his second wife’s death, he struggled with depression and constantly feared for his own mental state. He spent the last half of his life in Cambridge, MA where he taught at Harvard and continued to write. He died of a stomach ailment at the age of 75. At the time of his death he was translating the works of Italian artist/poet Michelangelo.

Burial

Mt. Auburn Cemetery – Cambridge, MA

Specific Location

Indian Ridge Path; Walk up Lilac Path from the bend in Willow Ave. to Indian Ridge Path, take it to the left (northwest) and Longfellow’s tomb is just past the intersection with Catalpa Path on your right.

This entry was posted on February 28, 2014 at 2:33 pm and is filed under Mt. Auburn Cemetery with tags Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Poets, Writers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.