 When he returned to the United States in 1836 , Longfellow took up the professorship at Harvard . He was required to live in Cambridge to be close to the campus and , therefore , rented rooms at the Craigie House in the spring of 1837 , now preserved as the Longfellow House – Washington 's Headquarters National Historic Site . The home , built in 1759 , had once been the headquarters of George Washington during the Siege of Boston beginning in July 1775 . Elizabeth Craigie , widow of Andrew Craigie , owned the home and rented rooms on the second floor . Previous boarders also included Jared Sparks , Edward Everett , and Joseph Emerson Worcester . Longfellow began publishing his poetry , including the collection Voices of the Night in 1839 . The bulk of Voices of the Night , Longfellow 's debut book of poetry , was translations though he also included nine original poems and seven poems he had written as a teenager . Ballads and Other Poems was published shortly thereafter in 1841 and included " The Village Blacksmith " and " The Wreck of the Hesperus " , which were instantly popular . Longfellow also became part of the local social scene , creating a group of friends who called themselves the Five of Clubs . Members included Cornelius Conway Felton , George Stillman Hillard , and Charles Sumner , the latter of whom would become Longfellow 's closest friend over the next 30 years . As a professor , Longfellow was well liked , though he disliked being " constantly a playmate for boys " rather than " stretching out and grappling with men 's minds . " 
