 Though much of his work is categorized as lyric poetry , Longfellow experimented with many forms , including hexameter and free verse . His published poetry shows great versatility , using anapestic and trochaic forms , blank verse , heroic couplets , ballads and sonnets . Typically , Longfellow would carefully consider the subject of his poetic ideas for a long time before deciding on the right metrical form for it . Much of his work is recognized for its melody @-@ like musicality . As he says , " what a writer asks of his reader is not so much to like as to listen " . 
