'Hiawatha And Mudjekeewis' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Out of childhood into manhood
Now had grown my Hiawatha,
Skilled in all the craft of hunters,
Learned in all the lore of old men,
In all youthful sports and pastimes,
In all manly arts and labors.
Swift of foot was Hiawatha;
He could shoot an arrow from him,
And run forward with such fleetness,
That the arrow fell behind him!
Strong of arm was Hiawatha;
He could shoot ten arrows upward,
Shoot them with such strength and swiftness,
That the tenth had left the bow-string
Ere the first to earth had fallen!
He had mittens, Minjekahwun,
Magic mittens made of deer-skin;
When upon his hands he wore them,
He could smite the rocks asunder,
He could grind them into powder.
He had moccasins enchanted,
Magic moccasins of deer-skin;
When he bound them round his ankles,
When upon his feet he tied them,
At each stride a mile he measured!
Much he questioned old Nokomis
Of his father Mudjekeewis;
Learned from her the fatal secret
Of the beauty of his mother,
Of the falsehood of his father;
And his heart was hot within him,
Like a living coal his heart was.
Then he said to old Nokomis,
"I will go to Mudjekeewis,
See how fares it with my father,
At the doorways of the West-Wind,
At the portals of the Sunset!"
From his lodge went Hiawatha,
Dressed for travel, armed for hunting;
Dressed in deer-skin shirt and leggings,
Richly wrought with quills and wampum;
On his head his eagle-feathers,
Round his waist his belt of wampum,
In his hand his bow of ash-wood,
Strung with sinews of the reindeer;
In his quiver oaken arrows,
Tipped with jasper, winged with feathers;
With his mittens, Minjekahwun,
With his moccasins enchanted.
Warning said the old Nokomis,
"Go not forth, O Hiawatha!
To the kingdom of the West-Wind,
To the realms of Mudjekeewis,
Lest he harm you with his magic,
Lest he kill you with his cunning!"
But the fearless Hiawatha
Heeded not her woman's warning;
Forth he strode into the forest,
At each stride a mile he measured;
Lurid seemed the sky above him,
Lurid seemed the earth beneath him,
Hot and close the air around him,
Filled with smoke and fiery vapors,
As of burning woods and prairies,
For his heart was hot within him,
Like a living coal his heart was.
So he journeyed westward, westward,
Left the fleetest deer behind him,
Left the antelope and bison;
Crossed the rushing Esconaba,
Crossed the mighty Mississippi,
Passed the Mountains of the Prairie,
Passed the land of Crows and Foxes,
Passed the dwellings of the Blackfeet,
Came unto the Rocky Mountains,
To the kingdom of the West-Wind,
Where upon the gusty summits
Sat the ancient Mudjekeewis,
Ruler of the winds of heaven.
Filled with awe was Hiawatha
At the aspect of his father.
On the air about him wildly
Tossed and streamed his cloudy tresses,
Gleamed like drifting snow his tresses,
Glared like Ishkoodah, the comet,
Like the star with fiery tresses.
Filled with joy was Mudjekeewis
When he looked on Hiawatha,
Saw his youth rise up before him
In the face of Hiawatha,
Saw the beauty of Wenonah
From the grave rise up before him.
"Welcome!" said he, "Hiawatha,
To the kingdom of the West-Wind
Long have I been waiting for you
Youth is lovely, age is lonely,
Youth is fiery, age is frosty;
You bring back the days departed,
You bring back my youth of passion,
And the beautiful Wenonah!"
Many days they talked together,
Questioned, listened, waited, answered;
Much the mighty Mudjekeewis
Boasted of his ancient prowess,
Of his perilous adventures,
His indomitable courage,
His invulnerable body.
Patiently sat Hiawatha,
Listening to his father's boasting;
With a smile he sat and listened,
Uttered neither threat nor menace,
Neither word nor look betrayed him,
But his heart was hot within him,
Like a living coal his heart was.
Then he said, "O Mudjekeewis,
Is there nothing that can harm you?
Nothing that you are afraid of?"
And the mighty Mudjekeewis,
Grand and gracious in his boasting,
Answered, saying, "There is nothing,
Nothing but the black rock yonder,
Nothing but the fatal Wawbeek!"
And he looked at Hiawatha
With a wise look and benignant,
With a countenance paternal,
Looked with pride upon the beauty
Of his tall and graceful figure,
Saying, "O my Hiawatha!
Is there anything can harm you?
Anything you are afraid of?"
But the wary Hiawatha
Paused awhile, as if uncertain,
Held his peace, as if resolving,
And then answered, "There is nothing,
Nothing but the bulrush yonder,
Nothing but the great Apukwa!"
And as Mudjekeewis, rising,
Stretched his hand to pluck the bulrush,
Hiawatha cried in terror,
Cried in well-dissembled terror,
"Kago! kago! do not touch it!"
"Ah, kaween!" said Mudjekeewis,
"No indeed, I will not touch it!"
Then they talked of other matters;
First of Hiawatha's brothers,
First of Wabun, of the East-Wind,
Of the South-Wind, Shawondasee,
Of the North, Kabibonokka;
Then of Hiawatha's mother,
Of the beautiful Wenonah,
Of her birth upon the meadow,
Of her death, as old Nokomis
Had remembered and related.
And he cried, "O Mudjekeewis,
It was you who killed Wenonah,
Took her young life and her beauty,
Broke the Lily of the Prairie,
Trampled it beneath your footsteps;
You confess it! you confess it!"
And the mighty Mudjekeewis
Tossed upon the wind his tresses,
Bowed his hoary head in anguish,
With a silent nod assented.
Then up started Hiawatha,
And with threatening look and gesture
Laid his hand upon the black rock,
On the fatal Wawbeek laid it,
With his mittens, Minjekahwun,
Rent the jutting crag asunder,
Smote and crushed it into fragments,
Hurled them madly at his father,
The remorseful Mudjekeewis,
For his heart was hot within him,
Like a living coal his heart was.
But the ruler of the West-Wind
Blew the fragments backward from him,
With the breathing of his nostrils,
With the tempest of his anger,
Blew them back at his assailant;
Seized the bulrush, the Apukwa,
Dragged it with its roots and fibres
From the margin of the meadow,
From its ooze the giant bulrush;
Long and loud laughed Hiawatha!
Then began the deadly conflict,
Hand to hand among the mountains;
From his eyry screamed the eagle,
The Keneu, the great war-eagle,
Sat upon the crags around them,
Wheeling flapped his wings above them.
Like a tall tree in the tempest
Bent and lashed the giant bulrush;
And in masses huge and heavy
Crashing fell the fatal Wawbeek;
Till the earth shook with the tumult
And confusion of the battle,
And the air was full of shoutings,
And the thunder of the mountains,
Starting, answered, "Baim-wawa!"
Back retreated Mudjekeewis,
Rushing westward o'er the mountains,
Stumbling westward down the mountains,
Three whole days retreated fighting,
Still pursued by Hiawatha
To the doorways of the West-Wind,
To the portals of the Sunset,
To the earth's remotest border,
Where into the empty spaces
Sinks the sun, as a flamingo
Drops into her nest at nightfall
In the melancholy marshes.
"Hold!" at length cried Mudjekeewis,
"Hold, my son, my Hiawatha!
'T is impossible to kill me,
For you cannot kill the immortal
I have put you to this trial,
But to know and prove your courage;
Now receive the prize of valor!
"Go back to your home and people,
Live among them, toil among them,
Cleanse the earth from all that harms it,
Clear the fishing-grounds and rivers,
Slay all monsters and magicians,
All the Wendigoes, the giants,
All the serpents, the Kenabeeks,
As I slew the Mishe-Mokwa,
Slew the Great Bear of the mountains.
"And at last when Death draws near you,
When the awful eyes of Pauguk
Glare upon you in the darkness,
I will share my kingdom with you,
Ruler shall you be thenceforward
Of the Northwest-Wind, Keewaydin,
Of the home-wind, the Keewaydin."
Thus was fought that famous battle
In the dreadful days of Shah-shah,
In the days long since departed,
In the kingdom of the West-Wind.
Still the hunter sees its traces
Scattered far o'er hill and valley;
Sees the giant bulrush growing
By the ponds and water-courses,
Sees the masses of the Wawbeek
Lying still in every valley.
Homeward now went Hiawatha;
Pleasant was the landscape round him,
Pleasant was the air above him,
For the bitterness of anger
Had departed wholly from him,
From his brain the thought of vengeance,
From his heart the burning fever.
Only once his pace he slackened,
Only once he paused or halted,
Paused to purchase heads of arrows
Of the ancient Arrow-maker,
In the land of the Dacotahs,
Where the Falls of Minnehaha
Flash and gleam among the oak-trees,
Laugh and leap into the valley.
There the ancient Arrow-maker
Made his arrow-heads of sandstone,
Arrow-heads of chalcedony,
Arrow-heads of flint and jasper,
Smoothed and sharpened at the edges,
Hard and polished, keen and costly.
With him dwelt his dark-eyed daughter,
Wayward as the Minnehaha,
With her moods of shade and sunshine,
Eyes that smiled and frowned alternate,
Feet as rapid as the river,
Tresses flowing like the water,
And as musical a laughter:
And he named her from the river,
From the water-fall he named her,
Minnehaha, Laughing Water.
Was it then for heads of arrows,
Arrow-heads of chalcedony,
Arrow-heads of flint and jasper,
That my Hiawatha halted
In the land of the Dacotahs?
Was it not to see the maiden,
See the face of Laughing Water
Peeping from behind the curtain,
Hear the rustling of her garments
From behind the waving curtain,
As one sees the Minnehaha
Gleaming, glancing through the branches,
As one hears the Laughing Water
From behind its screen of branches?
Who shall say what thoughts and visions
Fill the fiery brains of young men?
Who shall say what dreams of beauty
Filled the heart of Hiawatha?
All he told to old Nokomis,
When he reached the lodge at sunset,
Was the meeting with his father,
Was his fight with Mudjekeewis;
Not a word he said of arrows,
Not a word of Laughing Water.
Editor 1 Interpretation
Hiawatha And Mudjekeewis by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is one of the most acclaimed poets in American literature. He is known for his unique style of storytelling through his poetry, and his works have been celebrated for their vivid imagery, captivating narration, and profound themes. One of his most famous works is Hiawatha And Mudjekeewis, a poem that explores the complex relationship between two Native American gods.
Overview
Hiawatha And Mudjekeewis is a narrative poem that tells the story of two Native American gods, Hiawatha and Mudjekeewis. The poem is divided into four parts, each of which tells a different story about the two gods.
In the first part, Longfellow introduces the two gods and describes their rivalry. Hiawatha is the god of the north wind, while Mudjekeewis is the god of the west wind. The two gods argue about who is the stronger of the two, and they decide to compete in a series of challenges to determine who is the strongest.
In the second part, Longfellow describes the first challenge between the two gods. They compete in a game of ball, and Hiawatha emerges as the winner.
In the third part, the two gods compete in a race. Mudjekeewis uses his powers to transform into a giant bird, but Hiawatha wins the race by transforming into a fish and swimming faster than Mudjekeewis can fly.
In the fourth and final part, Longfellow describes the ultimate challenge between the two gods. They compete in a battle, and Hiawatha emerges as the victor. Mudjekeewis is defeated, and he acknowledges Hiawatha's strength and power.
Literary Analysis
Longfellow's Hiawatha And Mudjekeewis is a poem that is rich in theme, symbolism, and imagery. The poem explores the complex relationship between two Native American gods, and it is a reflection of the Native American culture and beliefs.
One of the main themes in the poem is the concept of strength and power. Hiawatha and Mudjekeewis are both powerful gods, and they are constantly testing each other's strength. The poem shows how strength and power are not just physical attributes but also mental and spiritual traits.
Another important theme in the poem is the concept of identity. Hiawatha and Mudjekeewis are both gods, but they have different personalities and identities. Hiawatha is depicted as a kind and gentle god, while Mudjekeewis is portrayed as arrogant and boastful. The poem shows how identity is shaped by our actions and how we choose to present ourselves to others.
Symbolism is also a crucial element in the poem. The wind is a powerful symbol in Native American culture, and it represents the forces of nature and the power of the gods. Hiawatha and Mudjekeewis are both wind gods, and their rivalry represents the forces of nature and the balance between them.
The imagery in the poem is vivid and evocative. Longfellow uses descriptive language to paint a picture of the natural world and the gods that inhabit it. The reader can almost feel the wind blowing and hear the sound of the ball as it is hit back and forth in the game.
Overall, Hiawatha And Mudjekeewis is a powerful and thought-provoking poem that explores important themes and offers a glimpse into Native American culture and mythology.
Interpretation
Longfellow's Hiawatha And Mudjekeewis offers a unique perspective on Native American culture and mythology. The poem highlights the importance of strength, power, and identity in Native American culture, and it shows how these concepts are intertwined with the natural world.
The rivalry between Hiawatha and Mudjekeewis is a reflection of the forces of nature and the balance between them. The wind is a powerful symbol in Native American culture, and the poem shows how the wind can be both a destructive force and a life-giving one.
Hiawatha and Mudjekeewis also represent different aspects of human nature. Hiawatha is depicted as a kind and gentle god, while Mudjekeewis is portrayed as arrogant and boastful. The poem shows how our actions and choices shape our identity and how we are perceived by others.
Overall, Hiawatha And Mudjekeewis is a testament to the power of storytelling and the importance of respecting different cultures and traditions. Longfellow's vivid imagery and descriptive language bring the world of the Native American gods to life, and the poem offers a glimpse into a rich and fascinating mythology.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Hiawatha And Mudjekeewis is a powerful and thought-provoking poem that explores important themes and offers a unique perspective on Native American culture and mythology. Longfellow's vivid imagery, descriptive language, and storytelling skills make this poem a classic of American literature.
The poem highlights the importance of strength, power, and identity in Native American culture, and it shows how these concepts are intertwined with the natural world. Hiawatha and Mudjekeewis represent different aspects of human nature, and the poem shows how our actions and choices shape our identity and how we are perceived by others.
Overall, Hiawatha And Mudjekeewis is a testament to the power of storytelling and the importance of respecting different cultures and traditions. Longfellow's skillful use of imagery and symbolism brings the world of the Native American gods to life, and the poem is a lasting tribute to the rich and fascinating mythology of the Native American people.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem, "The Song of Hiawatha," is a masterpiece of American literature. It tells the story of the legendary Ojibwe hero, Hiawatha, and his battles with the evil spirit, Mudjekeewis. The poem is a celebration of Native American culture and mythology, and it has captivated readers for generations.
The poem begins with a description of the Great Spirit, who creates the world and all its creatures. The Great Spirit then sends the four winds to the four corners of the earth, and they bring with them the seasons and the cycles of life. The poem then introduces Hiawatha, who is born to a virgin mother and raised by his grandmother, Nokomis.
Hiawatha grows up to be a great warrior and leader of his people. He is known for his bravery, wisdom, and compassion. He is also a skilled hunter and fisherman, and he teaches his people how to live in harmony with nature.
One day, Hiawatha hears a voice calling to him from the sky. It is the voice of the Great Spirit, who tells him that he must go on a quest to defeat Mudjekeewis, the evil spirit of the west. Mudjekeewis is a giant who controls the winds and the storms, and he is a constant threat to Hiawatha's people.
Hiawatha sets out on his quest, accompanied by his friend, Chibiabos, a musician and storyteller. They travel through the wilderness, encountering many dangers along the way. They cross rivers and mountains, and they face fierce animals and hostile tribes.
Finally, they reach the land of Mudjekeewis, where they engage in a fierce battle. Hiawatha uses his strength and his cunning to defeat Mudjekeewis, and he banishes him to the underworld. With Mudjekeewis defeated, Hiawatha returns to his people as a hero.
The poem is filled with vivid descriptions of nature and the wilderness. Longfellow's use of imagery and symbolism creates a powerful sense of the natural world and its importance to Native American culture. The poem also celebrates the values of courage, wisdom, and compassion, which are central to Hiawatha's character.
One of the most striking aspects of the poem is its use of rhythm and repetition. Longfellow employs a unique meter, based on the rhythms of Native American chants and songs. The poem is divided into sections, each of which begins with the same refrain: "By the shores of Gitche Gumee, / By the shining Big-Sea-Water." This repetition creates a sense of continuity and unity, and it reinforces the importance of the natural world to the story.
Another notable feature of the poem is its use of Native American mythology and folklore. Longfellow drew on a wide range of sources, including Ojibwe legends, to create his story. He also incorporated elements of other Native American cultures, such as the Iroquois and the Sioux. The result is a rich tapestry of Native American culture and mythology, which has inspired readers for generations.
Despite its many strengths, "The Song of Hiawatha" has been criticized for its romanticized portrayal of Native American culture. Some scholars argue that Longfellow's depiction of Native Americans is overly simplistic and idealized. They point out that the poem ignores the complex social and political realities of Native American life, and that it perpetuates stereotypes and myths about Native American culture.
Despite these criticisms, "The Song of Hiawatha" remains a beloved classic of American literature. Its vivid imagery, powerful storytelling, and celebration of Native American culture continue to inspire readers today. Whether read as a work of fiction or as a tribute to Native American mythology, the poem is a testament to the enduring power of storytelling and the human imagination.
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