ABSTRACT
Born at Elmwood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on February 22, 1819, James Russell Lowell was a poet and humorist in a Brahmin dynasty of clergymen, lawyers and college presidents. He inherited much of his literary talent and interest in ballad lore from his mother, Harriet Traill Spence. Lowell's father, the Reverend Charles Lowell, pastor of West Church in Boston, was praised by his congregation for his oratory gifts from the pulpit. The youngest of six children, James Russell heard many tales and ballads from his hypersensitive mother, and his childhood relations with his brother, Charles, were very close. In his early years, he was thoroughly trained in Greek and Latin at the private school near his home. At fifteen, Lowell entered Harvard College. Well-read in English literature, he soon showed his talent as a humorist by contributing comic pieces to the college magazine Harvardiana.
