The Song of Hiawatha, by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe Song of Hiawatha is an epic poem telling the story of the life of Hiawatha. The father of Hiawatha was the West Wind, Mudjekeewis. His mother was Wenonah, daughter of Nokomis, who fell from the moon. Early in his life, Hiawatha visited the home of his father the West Wind beyond the sunset, and, when he found out that Wenonah died because Mudjekeewis deserted her, Hiawatha duels him for three days, armed with several items and his skill. His mittens can crush rocks. His moccasins will allow him to shoot an arrow at a tree trunk and then run to it, and get there before the arrow does. He has also learned the speech of all animals. When Hiawatha has driven Mudjekeewis to the mouth of a cave, Mudjekeewis tells him that it is impossible to kill an immortal, and that at the time of his death, Hiawatha will be made the Northwest Wind. Hiawatha returns to his forest home. The poem continues with exciting descriptions of other battles and challenges that Hiawatha faces. It also describes his marriage to Minnehaha, Laughing Water.
I liked this book because it was very interesting, but it was a little hard to get through because every episode was very long, as it was a poem. Lines were occasionally repeated. If you are a persistent reader, than you will find The Song of Hiawatha a very good book, but otherwise you may stop in the middle of the introduction. While it is not as hard as an epic poem might be, it is more difficult than most novels. It gets to be exciting in many places, but it is not one long story like most books, with one main problem and many more branching off of it; instead, each chapter is a separate story, like Winnie the Pooh, with different villains and different adventures. It is a cross between a fanciful Native American story and a documentary, and it is not a novel that is always pulling you to find out what happens next. Every chapter is an adventure, but they are almost never linked, so when you finish one chapter, you have no desire to keep going until you continue.
By Avi Zeff
Poetry
Books of poems or poems themselves
The Song of Hiawatha, by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe Song of Hiawatha is an epic poem telling the story of the life of Hiawatha. The father of Hiawatha was the West Wind, Mudjekeewis. His mother was Wenonah, daughter of Nokomis, who fell from the moon. Early in his life, Hiawatha visited the home of his father the West Wind beyond the sunset, and, when he found out that Wenonah died because Mudjekeewis deserted her, Hiawatha duels him for three days, armed with several items and his skill. His mittens can crush rocks. His moccasins will allow him to shoot an arrow at a tree trunk and then run to it, and get there before the arrow does. He has also learned the speech of all animals. When Hiawatha has driven Mudjekeewis to the mouth of a cave, Mudjekeewis tells him that it is impossible to kill an immortal, and that at the time of his death, Hiawatha will be made the Northwest Wind. Hiawatha returns to his forest home. The poem continues with exciting descriptions of other battles and challenges that Hiawatha faces. It also describes his marriage to Minnehaha, Laughing Water.
I liked this book because it was very interesting, but it was a little hard to get through because every episode was very long, as it was a poem. Lines were occasionally repeated. If you are a persistent reader, than you will find The Song of Hiawatha a very good book, but otherwise you may stop in the middle of the introduction. While it is not as hard as an epic poem might be, it is more difficult than most novels. It gets to be exciting in many places, but it is not one long story like most books, with one main problem and many more branching off of it; instead, each chapter is a separate story, like Winnie the Pooh, with different villains and different adventures. It is a cross between a fanciful Native American story and a documentary, and it is not a novel that is always pulling you to find out what happens next. Every chapter is an adventure, but they are almost never linked, so when you finish one chapter, you have no desire to keep going until you continue.
By Avi Zeff