"The Ropewalk" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

1. He began growing a beard because when trying to save his wife, Fanny, he was badly burned and grew the beard in to hide his burns.

2. He was one of the most known poets of his time. He left Harvard to pursue his interest in writing.

3. "In that building, long and low, With its windows all a-row, Like the port-holes of a hulk, Human spiders spin and spin, Backward down their threads so thin, Dropping, each a hempen bulk."

4. The extended metaphor is rope-making and using imagination to make boring work more interesting by thinking of how this rope will be used everywhere. It's all about being imaginative.

5. This poem is about people working in a factory, making rope. The narrator is making up different scenarios in which the rope will be used and making boring work interesting. He provides many examples like "two fair maidens in a swing" and "...rope coils round and round like a serpent at his feet."

6. Romantic elements: The imagery in this poem is very vivid. He's giving lots of pictures like the "two fair maidens" and the "human spider" spinning thread in a building. The poem illustrates finding the beauty in ordinary things. It isn't boring and purely about religion, it talks about people and work being boring and tedious. It shows how people people are tired of just working and the narrator tries to make the most out of the work.

7. Born on February 27, 1807 in Portland, Maine.

8. He was a descendant of the Mayflower passengers John and Priscilla Alden.

9. Rhyme Scheme: AABCCB

10. Scansion: Trochaic tetrameter with spondee

11. Written in the Romanticism time period by a well-known poet.