I am currently reading this poem. A few of my children and I were on an Easter break road trip and we passed through Solvang, CA (a quaint Danish town) in April. There is a book store called The Book Loft on the main road. Inside the store they have the Hans Christian Andersen Museum on the third floor. It was in this little bookstore that I happened to find a book from The Modern Library with a collection of poems from Longfellow. It is through the work of Mr. Esolen that I have come to love poetry and went into the bookstore with the purpose of finding a used book such as the one I found. So far in his works, I find that Longfellow tends to weave biblical connections to his writing and within this poem particularly. For example, it seems Mondamin was the angel who wrestled with Jacob and the battle of Mudjekeewis and Mishe-Mokwa was a parallel to David and Goliath. I'm very grateful to have found this book and also to this substack for helping me to find my love for poetry.
This really made me do a lot more research on Longfellow! I started by remembering the funny poem we used to quote in junior high about the “mittens of Mudjokivis!” (If you look it up, it will make you smile if you have a good sense of humor!)
No offense but I was totally surprised when I heard you reading the excerpt from Hiawatha. My mom often quoted portions of this poem to me when a child. It was like a lovely rhyming emphatic cadence and your reading (please excuse me) seemed very mundane and matter of fact!
My grandfather born in 1898, married in 1920 finished eighth grade and loved poetry and worked industry when loyalty was so valued. 6 children, 23 grandchildren all gathered round him as he recited from Julius Caesar or our favorite Hiawatha
When we were taught about the meter of poetry in my Catholic school in Flushing NY in the 1950s, Hiawatha was the example for trochaic. I still remember the poem.
Alphonse! Yes, that was a different world, indeed. You were blessed. My grandfather (born about the same time as yours), not a reader but a loyal family man and laborer, father of 13, the ninth of whom was my mother, was one of the treasures of my childhood. Thanks for reminding ME of those treasured years!
I am currently reading this poem. A few of my children and I were on an Easter break road trip and we passed through Solvang, CA (a quaint Danish town) in April. There is a book store called The Book Loft on the main road. Inside the store they have the Hans Christian Andersen Museum on the third floor. It was in this little bookstore that I happened to find a book from The Modern Library with a collection of poems from Longfellow. It is through the work of Mr. Esolen that I have come to love poetry and went into the bookstore with the purpose of finding a used book such as the one I found. So far in his works, I find that Longfellow tends to weave biblical connections to his writing and within this poem particularly. For example, it seems Mondamin was the angel who wrestled with Jacob and the battle of Mudjekeewis and Mishe-Mokwa was a parallel to David and Goliath. I'm very grateful to have found this book and also to this substack for helping me to find my love for poetry.
This really made me do a lot more research on Longfellow! I started by remembering the funny poem we used to quote in junior high about the “mittens of Mudjokivis!” (If you look it up, it will make you smile if you have a good sense of humor!)
No offense but I was totally surprised when I heard you reading the excerpt from Hiawatha. My mom often quoted portions of this poem to me when a child. It was like a lovely rhyming emphatic cadence and your reading (please excuse me) seemed very mundane and matter of fact!
This was so beautiful: the words, the images, the history. Thank you.
My grandfather born in 1898, married in 1920 finished eighth grade and loved poetry and worked industry when loyalty was so valued. 6 children, 23 grandchildren all gathered round him as he recited from Julius Caesar or our favorite Hiawatha
When we were taught about the meter of poetry in my Catholic school in Flushing NY in the 1950s, Hiawatha was the example for trochaic. I still remember the poem.
Alphonse! Yes, that was a different world, indeed. You were blessed. My grandfather (born about the same time as yours), not a reader but a loyal family man and laborer, father of 13, the ninth of whom was my mother, was one of the treasures of my childhood. Thanks for reminding ME of those treasured years!
Then the scattering in the sixties…. Thank you for Hiawatha.