Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Oil portrait
American Poet 1807 – 1882.
A man of great ferocious tempo and histories. Still one of the most popular of our poets: Hiawatha, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, etc.
Henry Longfellow lived almost fifty years of his life while Queen Victoria ruled Britain from 1837 – 1901. There may have been some concentrated American effort to stand apart by lauding our pioneers and savage North America, and it sure wasn’t thwarted by being politically correct. Imagine while high tea was being mimicked on Park Avenue, this famous yankee poet had the courage to come up with the swashbuckling but doomed fantasy (loosely based on history c.1400) that started on the shores of Gitche Gumee, progressed to Daughter of the Moon Nokomis and right up and into the shining Big Sea Water! It was an instant & roaring success. Enough feathers were ruffled to make parodies galore, but it’s 125 years later and I’m not the only one who still remembers Longfellow’s words and wants a feather in my braid. The story teller poets were marvelous conjurers, Longfellow one of the best.
I met Nokomis when I was about seven years old and longed to make that birch bark canoe, moonlight, and woody adventureland my own. And Longfellow’s incredible epic of courage, mysticism, language, wildlife, and natives on these shores remain about one of the greatest tributes to Indian nations ever composed by anybody.
Now also available on RedBubble T Shirts! Full selection of color, great shirts.
Email: hawk@hawksperch.com
for details and price on the original oil painting.
Website: THE HAWKS PERCH, www.hawksperch.com
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cathy savels
Great oil painting!
Barbara Sparhawk
Thank you so much, Cathy.
Antanas
Great work!
Barbara Sparhawk
Thank you Cathy.
Thank you Antanas. I wasn’t sure about displaying it, faster work than I usually do on portraits (maybe that’s the secret!) but now I’m glad I did.
Jeremy Harrington
this is fantastic
Barbara Sparhawk
Very kind of you, many thanks, Jeremy.
orourke
great work,nice familiar feel to this, and great life storey, not a big reader but could not stop myself.
Barbara Sparhawk
Thank you Jeremy! Thanks O’Rourke! Longfellow somewhat forgotten these days, in school a few decades ago we had to memorize his wonderful poems. I hope this brings him back a bit.
I’ve enjoyed seeing the work you do, too.
Von McKnelly
Beautiful work of my favorite poet.
Barbara Sparhawk
Thanks Von, I’m so pleased to hear that! I been laughing to myself imagining this might just revive some interest in Hiawatha.
wildrider58
awesome image
Barbara Sparhawk
Thank you so much for that, wildrider.
Say, I just uploaded a great (if I do say so myself) copper colored hawk tee shirt from a pen and ink drawing, that is so…..you!
coffeebean
Wonderful portrait such warmth in this…lovely colours, great story once again….well done.
Barbara Sparhawk replied
Thanks, coffeebean. He seemed a lovely man to me.
JanG
OK Now I have to go through and read all your biographical sketches! Hiawatha was a childhood favorite as was Paul Revere’s Ride. I never thought much about the man behind them. You bring him to life! Wonderful painting, wonderful beard. (and yes, I still have Hiawatha and will now have to go back and re-read it)
Barbara Sparhawk replied
You’re funny, Jan…I was thinking when I finished this, Okay, Henry, I’m bringing you back to life in modern times, let’s see what happens.
Hiawatha got so much attention a hundred plus years ago, and was the bane of schoolkids to memorize, but it’s really very rich, and beautifully descriptive, the man’s genius was transporting. Thank you so very much for all you’ve said here.