A beloved figure in his own era——a household name for such poems as “Barbara Frietchie” and “The Barefoot Boy”—John Greenleaf Whittier remains an emotionally honest, powerfully reflective voice. A Quaker deeply involved in the struggle against slavery (he was harassed by mobs more than once) he enlisted his poetry in the abolitionist cause with such powerful works as “The Hunters of Men,” “Song of Slaves in the Desert,” and “Ichabod!”, his mournful attack on Daniel Webster’s betrayal of the anti-slavery cause.
Whittier’s narrative gift is evident in such perennially popular poems as “Skipper Ireson’s Ride” and the Civil War legend “Barbara Frietchie,” while in his masterpiece “Snow-Bound” he created a vivid, flavorful portrait of the country life he knew as a child in New England. “His diction is easy, his detail rich and unassuming, his emotion deep,” writes editor Brenda Wineapple. “And the shale of his New England landscape reaches outward, promising not relief from pain but a glimpse of a better, larger world.”
About the American Poets ProjectElegantly designed in compact editions, printed on acid-free paper, and textually authoritative, the American Poets Project makes available the full range of the American poetic accomplishment, selected and introduced by today’s most discerning poets and critics.
A devout Quaker who became a passionate poetic spokesman for the antislavery movement, John Greenleaf Whittier (1807?92) was one of the most beloved American poets of his era. In the years before the Civil War, he campaigned tirelessly against slavery in poems that include ?Ichabod, ? his famous denunciation of Daniel Webster for his support of the Fugitive Slave Law. In the long poem ?Snow-Bound? (1866) he created a warm and enthralling portrait of rural life, while such works as ?Barbara Frietchie? and ?The Barefoot Boy? have been enduringly popular. This new selection brings together Whittier's many aspects?political, religious, richly descriptive?and reaffirms the emotional honesty and depth of his work
“Whittier is an indispensable part of our poetic heritage. . . . As he matured, he sometimes put his strong Quaker beliefs in vital conflict with both the imagistic and hedonistic impulses of their brands of Romanticism. When he created such tension among his passions and responsibilities, the result was a beautiful, valiant pastoralism that one finds impossible to forget.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
