Best Selling Books by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

In the Summer of 1854, Longfellow wrote in his diary: "I have at length hit upon a plan for a poem on the American Indians, which seems to me the right one and the only. It is to weave together their beautiful traditions as whole." What emerged the next year was "The Song of Hiawatha," a composite of legends, folklore, myth, and characters that presents, in short, lilting trochees (who can forget "By the shore of Gitche Gumme / By the shining Big-Sea-Water"?), the life-story of a real Indian, who provides the focus for the narrative thread of this epic drama of high adventure, tragedy, and conflict. The aim was not to tell a particular or specific story, but to unite the strands of various Indian legends, to present a sympathetic portrait of many Native American tribes, and especially to disclose their profound relationship with the natural world. This when both government policies and an expanding, land-hungry population were just initiating their inexorable campaign of displacement and annihilation. The poem received a decidedly mixed reception. Our own Boston Traveller revealed its biases: "We cannot help but express our regret that our own pet national poet should not have selected as a theme of his muse something better and higher than the silly legends of the savage aborigines." Despite this, the poem entered into our canon of great narratives, and was revived again in 1891 when Remington, surely the most renowned artist of the West, provided over 400 newly commissioned pen and ink drawings. This handsome, new, and freshly reset edition (the only unabridged version in print) presents the full text and includes the original Remington illustrations as well as a glossary of the Indian names and their meanings. Book jacket.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow''s ''The Song of Hiawatha: An Epic Poem'' holds a distinguished place in the pantheon of American literature. Written in trochaic tetrameter, the poem echoes the cadences found in the Finnish epic, the Kalevala, embodying an ambitious attempt to capture the essence of Native American mythology. Rich in allegory and symbolism, Longfellow''s narrative weaves together the adventures of the Ojibwe warrior Hiawatha with the natural world of the American landscape, thus exploring the interplay between human experience and the environment at a critical period of national self-definition. The literary style is marked by its vivid imagery and an engaging rhythm that creates an almost hypnotic effect, inviting readers into the lore and legends of a time gone by. Longfellow, one of the most celebrated poets of the 19th century, drew upon his fascination with indigenous cultures and his scholarly background in European literatures to craft this masterpiece. This work reflects a period of romantic nationalism, where there was a burgeoning interest in creating distinctly American narratives, couched in the grandeur and expansiveness characteristic of the era. Longfellow, through his vast reading and intuitive understanding of verse, aimed to construct a unifying myth for the young nation, crystallizing his legacy as both a poet and a cultural architect. This edition by DigiCat Publishing is an invitation to contemporary readers to revisit and appreciate Longfellow''s epic in a format that bridges the past and present. Scholars and novices alike will find ''The Song of Hiawatha'' an enriching read that offers insight into the crafting of national identity through literature. It is a poignant reminder of the power of epic poetry to stir the imagination, prompt reflection on human character, and underscore the enduring beauty of storytelling traditions.

Includes split fore-edge painting of American Indian scenes. The egding is gilt, painings are visible only when pages are at an angle. The fore-edge paiting (fanning right) contaitins a village scene with warrior on horseback, two standing men (one of them wearing a feather war bonnet) and a woman, with two tipis and a view of two mesa mountains in the background. Second painting fanning left shows a hunt scene, with two hunters on horseback and four buffalo.