Longfellow wrote the poem shortly after completing lectures on German writerJohann Wolfgang von

Goethe and was heavily inspired by him. He was also inspired to write it by a heartfelt conversation
he had with friend and fellow professor atHarvard University Cornelius Conway Felton; the two had
spent an evening "talking of matters, which lie near one's soul:and how to bear one's self doughtily
in Life's battle: and make the best of things". [2] The next day, he wrote "A Psalm of Life". Longfellow
was further inspired by the death of his first wife, Mary Storer Potter, [3]and attempted to convince
himself to have "a heart for any fate".[1]
The poem was first published in the October 1838 issue of The Knickerbocker,[1]though it was
attributed only to "L." Longfellow was promised five dollars for its publication, though he never
received payment.[4] This original publication also included a slightly altered quote from Richard
Crashaw as an epigram: "Life that shall send / A challenge to its end, / And when it comes, say,
'Welcome, friend.'"[5]"A Psalm of Life" and other early poems by Longfellow, including "The Village
Blacksmith" and "The Wreck of the Hesperus", were collected and published asVoices of the Night in
1839.[6] This volume sold for 75 cents[7] and, by 1842, had gone into six editions.[8]
In the summer of 1838, Longfellow wrote "The Light of Stars", a poem which he called "A Second
Psalm of Life".[9] His 1839 poem inspired by the death of his wife, "Footsteps of Angels", was similarly
referred to as "Voices of the Night: A Third Psalm of Life". [10] Another poem published in Voices of the
Night titled "The Reaper and the Flowers" was originally subtitled "A Psalm of Death". [11]
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 March 24, 1882) was an American poet and
educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He
was also the first American to translateDante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, and was one of the
five Fireside Poets.
Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, which was then a part of Massachusetts. He studied
at Bowdoin College. After spending time in Europe he became a professor at Bowdoin and, later,
at Harvard College. His first major poetry collections were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads
and Other Poems (1841). Longfellow retired from teaching in 1854, to focus on his writing, living the
remainder of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a former Revolutionary War headquarters
of George Washington. 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. He died in 1882.