When I was writing my historical novel Brookhaven, I almost stumbled into using the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as a literary device. I had recently read three of his epic poems – The Song of Hiawatha, Evangeline, and The Courtship of Miles Standish. As I child, like virtually every other schoolchild of my generation, I had memorized “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.”
After reading and writing about the three epic poems, I read Cross of Snow, the 2020 biography of Longfellow by Nicholas Basbanes. Two years later, I saw the movie “I Heard the Bells,” the story behind Longfellow’s poem that eventually became a popular Christmas carol. And all this while, I kept looking for something that will help me unify a theme for this as-yet-unnamed novel.
The movie might have been the clincher. And I thought, what about Longfellow’s poetry? If I had searched more or better than I did, I might have found the 2017 novel What Longfellow Heard by Jon Nappa.
To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.
Some Tuesday Readings
Late summer – poem by Sonja Benskin Mesher.
The Nesting Ground – poem by Rachel Lyn Aldreick at Rabbit Room Poetry.
The Pershing Hotel – poem by Angela Alaimo O’Donnell at Every Day Poems.
Discover Your Favorite: 15 Poems Every Kid Should Know – Jody Lee Collins.
Howard’s Trees – poem by Benjamin Myers.
