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ЭЛЬДОРАДО

Между гор и долин

Едет рыцарь один,

Никого ему в мире не надо.

Он все едет вперед,

Он все песню поет,

Он замыслил найти Эльдорадо.

Но в скитаньях – один

Дожил он до седин,

И погасла былая отрада.

Ездил рыцарь везде,

Но не встретил нигде,

Не нашел он нигде Эльдорадо.

И когда он устал,

Пред скитальцем предстал

Странный призрак – и шепчет: «Что надо?»

Тотчас рыцарь ему:

«Расскажи, не пойму,

Укажи, где страна Эльдорадо?»

И ответила Тень:

«Где рождается день,

Лунных Гор где чуть зрима громада.

Через ад, через рай,

Все вперед поезжай,

Если хочешь найти Эльдорадо!»

Перевод К. Бальмонта

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

(1807 - 1882)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is an outstanding American poet of the 19^th century. He was born in Portland on February 27, 1807, the second son of seven siblings (three brothers and four sisters) in the family of a rich lawyer. The poet’s ancestors came to America in 1620 on the ship Mayflower and built the first village in New England. His grandfather took part in the War of Independence. The family traditions helped the poet to understand the history of his country. Later he often used historical facts in his poems.

At college the boy loved literature and decided to be a writer, but his father wanted him to be a teacher. When Longfellow was 19, his father sent him to Europe. He lived in France, Italy, Spain and Germany. While overseas, he learned French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German, mostly without formal instruction. In Madrid, he spent time with Washington Irving and was particularly impressed by the author's work ethic. Irving encouraged the young Longfellow to pursue writing.

Longfellow published several nonfiction and fiction prose pieces inspired by Irving, including "The Indian Summer" and "The Bald Eagle" in 1833. When he returned from Europe he became a teacher. He tried to make his lessons as interesting as possible. He translated the works of European poets into English. In 1836 he was invited to read lectures at Harvard. In 1838 his first book of poems was published. Next book of poems “Voices of the Night” published in 1839, made him famous.

Longfellow lived at the time of Negro slavery in the United States and sympathized with the anti-slavery movement. In some of his poems Longfellow described the unhappy life of the Negro slaves. These poems were published in 1842 under the title “Poems on Slavery”. Readers and literature critics liked his poems and he became one of the most popular poets in his country.

He made friends with Charles Dickens. In 1854 he left Harvard and devoted all his time to literature. His poems spoke against war.

The poet was greatly interested in old American legends and Indian folk lore. His best work is a long poem “The Song of Hiawatha” (1855) in with he used all Indian legends. It was translated into many languages. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a great poet and a humanist, who defended the unity of all nations.