Publisher's Synopsis
The Song of Hiawatha An Epic Poem Henry Wadsworth Longfellow A renowned scholar, poet and educator in the United States, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow held an abiding interest in the lives and customs of the Native American peoples. He would voraciously study their culture, learning the things which the tribes held highly in their men and women, and the customs they practiced. From his personal observations and reading, he began to draft the Song of Hiawatha. The story is set in the Pictured Rocks wilderness, which straddles the southern shores of Lake Superior. It sensuously recounts the thoughts, emotions of the characters, and the beauty of their natural surroundings. We come to regard Hiawatha as a noble man; resourceful, brave, and capable of great passion regarding his romantic interest Minnehaha. While Hiawatha's tale draws much inspiration from the oral traditions of passing down legends which was common among Native American peoples, the story itself is an original work in the spirit of American romanticism. Published in the 1850s at a time when the Native American tribes still held sway over vast swathes of the United States, The Song of Hiawatha stood tall in American literature for its respect and regard of a people who were increasingly oppressed by ever-expanding colonialism. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.