Song of Hiawatha Poem Analysis: Indian Theme
Talk about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Excitement of an Indian Theme
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet whose immaculate works raised interesting points of modernism and survival. Throughout his entire writing career, Longfellow infused spiritual rituals of Native Indian ideologies with seemingly progressive nuances concerning rites of passage and human consciousness. Mr. Longfellow utilized the natural and instinctively wise attributes of the former Native Indians to highlight the distinction of development from bucolic living to influential classism.
The rhythmic stanzas of The Indian Hunter describe dedicated patience that Longfellow suggests the readers should possess, but only in the most developmental ways:
An Indian hunter, with an unstrung bow,
Looked down where the valley lay stretched below.
That he was a stranger there, and all that day
Have been out on the hills, a perilous way…
Longfellow used the Native Indian’s revered nature as a portal of steadfastness that only worked during their appointed eras. Writing to his readers the significance of patience and willfulness was not the key point of penmanship. A hunter awaiting the perfect moment to catch his prey, knowingly in a dry land of game, but afraid to find further as a result of his stranger characteristics, is just a contradiction to the title itself. An Indian could have instinctive wise attributes, but yet that he awaits for something that won't ever come; unless he chooses to change direction. Longfellow comprehended that his readers were in a potentially damaging state of needing proper progression, but he also understood which they were looking in all the incorrect places “seek and ye shall find. ”
Following the sudden death of his first wife, Mary Storer Potter, Longfellow began scribing poetry that reflected his love lost, while also encouraging readers to “be not like dumb, driven cattle…trust no Future” (A Psalm of Life, 1838). Oftentimes he used his personal philosophies concerning life and death to consciously awaken the minds of those who overlooked the bearers of those troubles.
Throughout a period where advancement towards the democratic Republics was prominent, Longfellow’s nostalgically respectful tone with regards to the Indian culture was undeniably most insightful, but it not merely presented subjective moments of courage and doctrine but additionally simplified the art of existence throughout a not so simple period.
Works Cited
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. “The Indian Hunter. ” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [online resource], Maine Historical Society, Accessed Might 30, 2013. http://www.hwlongfellow.org
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. “A Psalm of Life. ” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [online resource], Maine Historical Society, Accessed May 30, 2013. http://www.hwlongfellow.org
