Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

American poet. Born February 27th in Portland, Maine. Graduated from Bowdoin College. After studying in Europe, he served as a professor of modern languages ​​at his alma mater for six years. While studying abroad again, his wife, who had accompanied him, died of illness. In 1836 he became a professor at Harvard University, where he remained for 18 years. After publishing a travelogue and an autobiographical prose story, he published many poems. His first collection of poems, Voices of the Night (1839), included "Hymn to Life," which was a generous affirmation of life and was welcomed by a wide range of readers. His representative works include Folk Songs and Other Poems (1842), which includes the famous "The Village Blacksmith," the tragic love poem Evangeline (1847), the Indian heroic poem The Song of Hiawatha (1855), modeled after the Finnish epic poem Kalevala, and the Puritan love story The Courtship of Myles Standish (1858). In 1861, he lost his second wife to burns and his writing slowed for a time, but he completed the English translation of "The Divine Comedy" (1865-67). He died in Cambridge on March 24, 1882. His poems are generally simple in meter and often moralistic or sentimental. He was the most popular representative American poet until the end of the 19th century, and was widely read in Japan throughout the Meiji and Taisho periods.

[Koichi Ikeda]

"The Poems of Longfellow, translated by Matsuyama Satoshi (1953, Jinseisha)" ▽ "Voices of the Night, translated by Yamato Sukeo (included in the World's Greatest Poets, Volume 11, American Edition, 1962, Heibonsha)" ▽ "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, by E. L. Hirsch, translated by Goto Shoji (included in the American Literary Writers Series, Volume 7, 1968, Hokuseido Shoten)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

アメリカの詩人。2月27日メーン州ポートランドに生まれる。ボードン大学を卒業。ヨーロッパ留学ののち母校で6年間近代語教授を務め、ふたたび留学中、同行の妻が病死。1836年からハーバード大学教授となり、18年間その職にあった。海外旅行記、自伝的散文物語を出版後、多くの詩を発表。処女詩集『夜の声』（1839）収録の「人生讃歌(さんか)」は、おおらかに人生を肯定し、広範な読者に迎えられた。代表作には、著名な「村の鍛冶(かじ)屋」を含む『民謡その他の詩集』（1842）、悲恋哀詩『エバンジェリン』（1847）、フィンランドの叙事詩『カレバラ』に倣ったインディアン英雄詩『ハイアワサの歌』（1855）、ピューリタンの恋物語詩『マイルズ・スタンディッシュの求婚』（1858）などがある。61年、二度目の妻を火傷で失い、一時創作の筆が鈍ったが、『神曲』の英訳（1865～67）を完成。82年3月24日ケンブリッジで没。概して韻律は平易で、教訓的、感傷的内容の詩が多い。19世紀末ごろまではもっとも人気あるアメリカの代表詩人で、日本でも明治・大正時代を通じてよく読まれた。

［池田孝一］

『松山敏訳『ロングフェロウ詩集』（1953・人生社）』▽『大和資雄訳『夜の声』（『世界名詩集大成第11巻　アメリカ篇』所収・1962・平凡社）』▽『E・L・ハーシュ著、後藤昭次訳『ヘンリー・ワズワース・ロングフェロウ』（『アメリカ文学作家シリーズ　第七巻』所収・1968・北星堂書店）』

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