Golden Legend, The - Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

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Résumé :
This long narrative poem is based on Hartmann von der Aue's treatment of a psycho-sexual German medieval romance Poor Henry [ca 1210], the hero renamed Prince Henry of Hoheneck. It is not based on the famous lives of the saints of the same name, as often claimed. The first printing was 3,600 copies and this popular book went through five printings within the year.

Biographie:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882) was an American poet and educator whose works include Paul Revere's Ride, The Song of Hiawatha and Evangeline. He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the five Fireside Poets. Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, which was then a part of Massachusetts. He studied at Bowdoin College. After spending time in Europe he became a professor at Bowdoin and later, at Harvard College. Longfellow retired from teaching in 1854, to focus on his writing, living the remainder of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a former Revolutionary War headquarters of George Washington.