John Greenleaf Whittier
(1807–1892)

John Greenleaf Whittier stands apart from the other Fireside Poets in several ways. Unlike Longfellow, Holmes, and Lowell, Whittier was born in poverty and received virtually no formal education. He was also more deeply involved with the social issues of his time than the other poets were. Finally, because of his devotion to the abolitionist movement, Whittier, unlike the other poets, did not gain national prominence as a poet until late in his life.

Whittier was born and raised on a farm near Haverhill, Massachusetts. His parents were Quakers, who taught him to believe in hard work, simplicity, pacifism, religious devotion, and social justice. Because he worked long hours on the debt-ridden family farm, Whittier suffered from poor health throughout much of his childhood. Though he was able to attend school for only one year, he educated himself by reading–primarily the Bible and other religious writings and the poetry of Scottish poet Robert Burns. During his teenage years, he began writing poetry, and when he was 18 his first poem was published in a local newspaper.

As a young man, Whittier became deeply committed to the abolitionist movement. He worked as a writer and editor for antislavery newspapers, wrote a large number of antislavery poems, spoke at abolitionist rallies, and became active in politics, serving a term in the Massachusetts legislature. Unfortunately, Whittier's dedication to abolitionism prevented him from gaining national recognition as a poet until after the Civil War.

When the war ended, Whittier turned away from politics, focused his attention on writing poetry, and established himself as one of the country's leading poets. He earned national fame in 1866, when he published his most highly regarded work, Snowbound. In this poem and in many later poems, Whittier vividly depicts the warmth and simplicity of life in rural New England.

As the way of life depicted in his poetry disappeared, the popularity of Whittier's poems grew. By the time of his death, Whittier had enjoyed more than 25 years of success as a poet. However, he never allowed success to affect his warmth, simplicity, and modesty, and he remained faithful at all times to his social and spiritual convictions.

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