Life Informing Writing

I have an anthology of Longfellow's poems and I visit it intermittently. My visits force me to look to his background and history of his settings to interpret some of the nuances of his work.

Today I read "The Two Locks of Hair." I quote the last stanza,
"And when I see that lock of gold,
Pale grows the evening-red
and when the dark lock I behold,
I wish that I were dead."

I was stopped in my tracks. So much of his poetry is story telling and about macro worldly issues, but this poem is decidedly personal. I searched his bio. He had two wives and many children by today's standard. He lost his first wife Mary while she was carrying his child. He lost his second wife Fanny in a sudden room fire. He lost a young child Fanny. The locks attribute the dark to his wife and the blonde to his baby. Can anyone best this expression of grief. I cannot. I understand this verbal assault to the world's ears saying he cannot take this. He did.
K. B. Pellegrino, Author