Published for the first time in 1851, this long narrative poem is based on Hartmann von der Aue's treatment of a psycho-sexual German medieval romance Poor Henry, the hero renamed Prince Henry of Hoheneck.
He has fatal disease that can only be cured if a virgin agrees to die for him. He speaks to Lucifer and then finds a young peasant lady willing to do it. She turns herself in, the prince repents and grabs her back, he is miraculously cured and then marries her. Happy ending, after a very, very long reading...
"Lucifer._ It is! It assuages every pain,
Cures all disease, and gives again
To age the swift delights of youth.
Inhale its fragrance." (Razvan Banciu)
About the author:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 - March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems "Paul Revere's Ride", "The Song of Hiawatha", and "Evangeline". He was the first American to completely translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the fireside poets from New England.
Longfellow was born in Portland, District of Maine, Massachusetts (now Portland, Maine). He graduated from Bowdoin College and became a professor there and, later, at Harvard College after studying in Europe. His first major poetry collections were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841).
He retired from teaching in 1854 to focus on his writing, and he lived the remainder of his life in the Revolutionary War headquarters of George Washington in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
His first wife, Mary Potter, died in 1835 after a miscarriage. His second wife, Frances Appleton, died in 1861 after sustaining burns when her dress caught fire. After her death, Longfellow had difficulty writing poetry for a time and focused on translating works from foreign languages. Longfellow died in 1882.
Longfellow wrote many lyric poems known for their musicality and often presenting stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and had success overseas. He has been criticized for imitating European styles and writing poetry that was too sentimental. (wikipedia.org)
