Customer Reviews

The Song of Hiawatha (Everyman's Library (Paper))

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"The Song of Hiawatha" is the best book I have ever been exposed to. Every time I hear the wonderful rhyme of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I begin to think of what this land was like before the Europeans conquered it. It is a wonderful tale of peace between nations and a great book to read to children.

I liked this piece quite a bit. Hiawatha was loosely based on a real Indian chief of the 1500's. Walt Disney has done this poem a great disservice by making it possibly one of his silliest characters ever. Longfellow had read a history of Hiawatha and then wrote a grand poem. It surprised me but this poem really is in the stream of Beowolf and Gilgamesh. This poem does not have the passion I found in Beowolf and Gilgamesh, but it reminds me of what it was like to live on this continent before the Europeans arrived, and long afterwards. The power of nature through its spiritual and apparent manifestations is key. In this poem all nature talks. Ben

I purchased this book for my grandson so we could read it together before going to a regional presentation of the poem. He is 8 years old, and got so much more from the play because he had read the poem. The book was of good quality.

Beautiful, beautiful artwork. A companion to the full poem that will please anyone ..at any age . Facinating artistry and high quality paper stock

I went to Camp Mudjekeewis and when my mother died (she also went to Camp Mudjekeewis) I tried to find the book "The Song of Hiawatha) because I wanted to find out how the camp picked that name.

I alway thought it was "Gentle West Wind". After reading the book, I find out the Mudjekeewis was Hiawatha's father. And he was called "West Wind."

I thought it was pretty funny as Camp Wedjekeewis was an all girls camp.

June McKenna Hevener ( I now live in Hingham, MA at Linden Ponds.

Although very popular in its day; Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha" was later viewed to be superficial and saccharine. Where as Walt Whitman may have spoken with more of an organic American voice, Longfellow drew upon English Romantic models and looked to Norse and especially the Finnish epic or "edda" "Kalevala" for inspiration.

Not with standing; Longfellow's saga is pure New England Renaissance; touching upon values and aesthetics characteristic of Longfellow's circle: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Emerson and Thoreau.

The nature-painting of the "Song of Hiawatha" is outstanding; the poetry is full of quotables; and the over-arching message is profound.

A book for generations. Mine was published 1898 and given me by my mother whose father(b.1875) gave it to her. It goes to the heart of the Indian race, a people susceptible to mythology and magic as their last great hope. Read it with an open mind, imagination, and for its beauty.

An undying tale.. legend... song... Wonderful poetry, the language is simply astounding! I have read the russian translation by Bounin, which was as remarkable as the original.