John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier (b. 1807–d. 1892) was a major 19th-century American poet, best known for his anti-slavery poetry, his activism, his regional poetry, his religious poetry, and his interest in New England folklore. He is known as one of the 19th century’s so-called fireside poets. Two conditions of his childhood are often seen as central to his later life as a poet: being raised as a Quaker and growing up on an isolated farm in Haverhill, Massachusetts. As a young man, he put himself through school at the Haverhill Academy. Inspired by various popular poets of the period, Whittier published widely in the periodical press, worked as a newspaper editor, and got involved as a National Republican in politics before becoming committed to antislavery action in his mid-twenties. From 1833–1865 he was known mostly as an antislavery activist and poet, though not all of his poetry in this period was related to slavery. His background in politics helped to make him a particularly savvy participant in the increasingly popular antislavery parties of the 1840s and 1850s. After the civil war, he had great success as a poet on the strength of his long narrative poem Snow-Bound. Since his death, he has never fully regained his canonical status, though he found new life as a “schoolroom poet” in the first half of the 20th century. Only Snow-Bound has received the kind of varied detailed critical attention some authors have enjoyed with many of their works. Recent critical work has offered new insights into his reception, complicating the traditional view of an abolitionist who settled later in life into more genteel literary work. In general, literary criticism of Whittier since his death has continued to shift the poet’s reputation and change his place in the landscape of American studies.