Inevitable Fuss

Actor at Wayside Inn in Massachusetts impersonates Longfellow.

Listen my children and you shall hear,
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.
    
    Many Americans recognize those words. They’re from ‘Paul Revere’s Ride,’ a poem composed by poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
    Longfellow was a literary rock star. His fame extended from America to Europe. Fame did not turn him into a braggart. He was humble in personality.
    Yet he had detractors. For example, not everybody was enamored by the poem about Paul Revere. Some critics groused that it did not mention William Dawes, who also rode that night.
    Edgar Allen Poe, a famous writer and contemporary, accused Longfellow of imitating the styles of other poets.
    Does criticism follow everybody who achieves prominence? Might some high achievers be immune to the slings and arrows of disparagement? I don’t think so.
    Receiving criticism is normal on the path to greatness.