Whittier, John Greenleaf (1807-1892)

Whittier, John Greenleaf (1807-1892)

American poet, known for his portrayals of everyday life in rural New England, written largely under the influence of Robert BURNS, and for his poems expressing his humanitarian and politically liberal convictions, especially in connection with the anti-slavery movement.

His works include Legends of New England in Prose and Verse ( 1831); Moll Pitcher ( 1832); Mogg Megone ( 1836), a prose account of Indian life in the days of the colonies; Poems Written During the Progress of the Abolition Question ( 1838); Lays of My Home, And Other Poems ( 1843); Voices of Freedom ( 1846), anti-slavery poems; Leaves from Margaret Smith's Journal in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, 1678-1679 ( 1849), a prose romance based on records of the Salem Witçhcraft trials; Poems ( 1849); Songs of Labor ( 1850); Old Portraits and Modern Sketches ( 1850) and Literary Recreations and Miscellanies ( 1854), collections of prose; The Chapel of the Hermits ( 1853); The Panorama, And Other Poems ( 1856); Home Ballads, Poems, and Lyrics ( 1860); In War Time, And Other Poems ( 1864); Snow-Bound ( 1866), his bestknown poem, dealing with a heavy snowfall in the countryside of New England, presented in an idyllic vein; The Tent on the Beach ( 1867), narrative verse; Among the Hills ( 1869); Miriam, And Other Poems ( 1871); Hazel Blossoms ( 1875); The Vision of Echard ( 1878); St. Gregory's Guest ( 1886); At Sundown ( 1890). Well-known single poems are The Barefoot Boy, Maud Muller, Ichabod, Skipper Ireson's Ride, and Telling the Bees. Whittier, called "the Quaker Poet," was a fervent and active Abolitionist during a large part of his career.