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- Title
How Longfellow Woke the Dead: When first published 150 years ago, his famous poem about Paul Revere was read as a bold statement of his opposition to slavery.
- Authors
Lepore, Jill
- Abstract
This article focuses on the contemporary reception of the poem "Paul Revere's Ride," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in the January 1861 issue of "The Atlantic Monthly." It considers the lifelong friendship between Longfellow and eventual senator and abolitionist Charles Sumner, who met in 1837 when both men where teaching at Harvard University and maintained an active correspondence when separated. Also considered are Longfellow's reactions to events such as the Fugitive Slave Act, the U.S. Supreme Court's Dredd Scott decision, and John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
- Subjects
UNITED States; PAUL Revere's Ride (Poem); LONGFELLOW, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882; ANTISLAVERY literature; 19TH century American poetry; LITERARY criticism; SUMNER, Charles, 1811-1874; POETS' correspondence; ABOLITIONISTS; AMERICAN poets; ANTEBELLUM Period (U.S.); BIOGRAPHY (Literary form); NINETEENTH century
- Publication
American Scholar, 2011, Vol 80, Issue 2, p33
- ISSN
0003-0937
- Publication type
Article