A Psalm Of Life – A poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. About the poet – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882) was an American poet, educator and linguist. He was born in Portland, Maine, United States. He was one of the five Fireside Poets also known as household or schoolroom poets. The great versatility in his poetic work is clearly seen through his usage of anapestic and trochaic forms, blank verse, heroic couplets, ballads and sonnets.