‘Our Native Writers’: An Excerpt from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1825 Commencement Address from Bowdoin College on Vimeo.

American poet and educator Henry Wadsworth Longfellow inspired generations of readers and fellow writers with works including Paul Revere’s Ride, The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline.

In 1825, as a graduating senior, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow delivered the student address at Bowdoin’s twentieth Commencement.

Watch as a few members of the Class of 2016 deliver excerpts from Longfellow’s “Our Native Writers.“