Henry Wadsworth LongfellowAnmeldelser

Poetry

Poetry

Becoming a real fan of Longfellow.

The second half of the book was more meaningful to me, especially The Norman Baron, The Rain in Summer, To a Child, and The Bridge.

Another good book of poetry by Longfellow. I enjoyed about half of the poems in this collection, which is his first published. This one had his juvenile poems sandwiched between Voices of the Night and Earlier Poems. The ones I tend to enjoy focuse on nature, mourning, love, and death. There's quite a bit of beauty in these lines of young Longfellow.

It started well, but drained away with little interest for the culmination of this pilgrim love story.

A sad but beautiful poem of a love separated by man and land.

1888

Originally published in 1847, I have an 1893 leatherbound, very used edition that I may have paid a "little" sum for from Abebooks.com online. But, as justification, this little book depicts the plight of the deportation and love lost and found of my ancestry, the Acadians, in poetry form. In this poem, Evangeline is separated from her love during the Great Deportation. She does eventually find him in America, after many of the Acadians found their way to Louisiana, but a little too late. He had found a new love and was married. This poem is well-known throughout our culture. Although, Evangeline is fictional, you will find a memorial and statue of her on the grounds of the St. Martin du Tours Catholic Church in St. Martinville, Louisiana. And you will also find a park on Bayou Teche, also in St. Martinville, with an old, beautiful oak tree named after her as well, "Evangeline Oak".

I read Longfellow's poem in elementary school, and had to memorize a few stanzas of it (back when rote learning wasn't denounced by the Ed.D.'s that be). It is a decent poem, as nineteenth century poems go, and stirringly patriotic, as patriotism goes. As history, it makes several mistakes. The appended account of the actual event by Paul Revere is interesting and engaging. Like all Applewood books, a bit of patriotism in nice, trim form.

These little books, sized and designed for use in classrooms by teachers of English language and literature, are a pure delight. This one is nicely presented by Ms. Kimpton, She writes a clear introduction and concludes with a three-part commentary: "The Indian and His Home", The Story of the Poem" and "The Poet Who Wrote 'Hiawatha'.". Thoughtful classroom exercises are included at key parts of the poem and at the end of the book.
In terms of the poem itself, there is much to think about and much that explains how the indigenous early North Americans thought about their living conditions. This reader, for one, is not proud of or happy about the arrival and behaviour of the "Paleface".

I found this poem a bit disappointing. I am glad I read it as its plot is part of the local history of Massachusetts, dealing as it does with the Pilgrims first few years in Plymouth, and I have seen parts of the poem quoted many times before (especially Priscilla's remark to John Alden). However, I found the poetry itself lacking a bit compared to other of Longfellow's works.

Stunning pictures!

This story about a village blacksmith offers a life metaphor as it talks about the seemingly simple life of this blacksmith and father. I would use this book in a 3rd-5th grade setting as an introduction into writing stories with poetry, but also in a middle school setting, maybe 5th-6th, to discuss literary devices such as imagery, similes, metaphors, and allegories.

This book is recommended for primary students. This book/poem depicts a blacksmith and the work and life he leads. In my future classroom, this book could be used to show how poetry can be used to create an overarching story.

(The last publication date for my Cambridge edition is 1893 and there is no cover like it among the 103 here posted.)

There are few more sonorous openings to compare with:

This is the forest primeval.

Midway through the 644 pages, what fun - not just EVANGELINE...
yet...
Listen My Children and You
Shall Hear of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere!

Then,
Under a speeding Chestnut-tree
The Village Smithy stands

And, a favorite Christmas Hymn -

I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day,
Their old,, familiar carols play...

with allowance for

But at anchor, carved and gilded,
lay the dragon-ship he builded...

Beauty follows and a lovely MICHAEL ANGELO.

Yet, there is way too much hunting and no compassion for murdered wildlife not needed for food.

Beautiful Poem from 1847

I grew up in Longfellow's home town...I have many childhood memories encompassing his home (open for historical tours), my parents clipping articles out of the newspaper about Longfellow, walking past his statue more times than one could count, Longfellow Square as a local landmark...he is part of where I am from, and thus part of me. I had a lovely illustrated copy of The Song of Hiawatha (heavily abridged I think) as a child, a gift from my eldest brother. I wish I could find that book again. There are several poems that speak to me, that move me. Recently it is The Wreck of the Hesperus...I have read it every week for awhile now, researched the basis for it too. Overall though...Longfellow isn't my favorite poet, he's just the one most part of me. The copy of this book I have is beautiful, faded with age and the hands of my ancestors. I am moved to read not just these poems but *this* copy.

One of those poems we read in grammar school that sticks with us later in life. I must say Longfellow had a way with description "Under a spreading chestnut tree the village smithy stands. The smith, a mighty man is he, with large and sinewy hands, and the muscles of his brawny arms are strong as iron bands."

I can see this man, his environment, and recognize the labor he does. But it is the softer side that makes this poem immortal. It is the recognition of what the man feels and how he betters his community that makes me love it.

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the moon, Nokomis.
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
There the wrinkled old Nokomis
Nursed the little Hiawatha,
Rocked him in his linden cradle,
Bedded soft in moss and rushes,



Born circa 1450, Hiawatha was a Native American visionary. He is thought to be responsible for forming the Iroquois Confederacy, an alliance of five tribes that resulted in a peaceful co-existence for some period of time. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s tribute to him is a 200 page poem, and quite a feat of beauty, rhythm and imagery.

The above passage was part of a recitation I did when I was in fifth or sixth grade. I don’t believe I ever read the entire poem until now, though, so I did not really know what the story entailed or how much beauty there was in this homage to Native American culture. I suppose some might think it a cliche, the brave warrior, the mixture of nature and humanity, the gods in the winds, but I saw it much as reading the Greek myths. There is a quiet beauty to the words, the rhythmic cadence lulls like a lullaby and gives the same sense of contentment. I can imagine this as almost a memory of being rocked at your mother’s breast.

Thus it is our daughters leave us,
Those we love, and those who love us!
Just when they have learned to help us,
When we are old and lean upon them,
Comes a youth with flaunting feathers,
With his flute of reeds, a stranger
Wanders piping through the village,
Beckons to the fairest maiden,
And she follows where he leads her,
Leaving all things for the stranger!

In the end of the poem, the coming of the White Man is seen in such a positive, hopeful way, which history proves is a stretch. But then, I noticed that when the White Man arrives Hiawatha discovers it is time for him to go. Who could blame him?

It is amazing that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow could put so much into a 52 page poem. There is the love story, of course, and the themes of devotion and persistence, but there is also faith, forgiveness, the cruelties of war, injustice, extreme loss, strength of character, and reclamation.

The descriptive quality of his poetry is mesmerizing. I felt I could see the Acadian village, the Louisiana bayou and the western mountains. Does this not describe the spread of an epidemic perfectly:
And, as the tides of the sea arise in the month of September,
Flooding some silver stream, till it spreads to a lake in the meadow,
So death flooded life, and, o'erflowing its natural margin,
Spread to a brackish lake, the silver stream of existence.

You can both feel the spreading of the disease and in an eerie way, see it.

I read this once, long ago, when I was a girl. Then it was just the love story that I came away with. It was like reading Romeo and Juliet as a teenager. This time, I left the poem with so much more!

Longfellow's poem about the village blacksmith is accompanied by richly textured illustrations by Karas. Through the illustrations, the blacksmith of old from the original poem is transformed to a modern town's blacksmith, still charming and unassuming, forging metal for all kinds of uses in the community.

4/20/22

Native American writings, or poems, depicting great American Indian epics. It is based on Native American stories and legends. The contents contain "The Song of Hiawatha"; "Evangeline"; and "The Courtship of Miles Standish"; then starts (from page 265) the shorter poems. These span the book until the last of which is named "The Cross of Snow" on page 342. Written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

given to Charles T. Menten at his high school graduation by Mrs. Fred Klein