There's probably nothing in The Song of Hiawatha you'll notice as much as Longfellow's enthusiasm about nature. Back in 1855, Longfellow was in a good position to see the way that modern technology and big cities would drive a wedge between people and their natural world. That's why he used his poetry to look back to an earlier time before Europeans arrived in North America—a time when people apparently had a much more intimate connection with the natural world around them. The problem here is that Longfellow often falls into the trap of projecting all his personal baggage onto Native Americans who aren't around to talk back to him. Longfellow longs for a simpler existence, but the truth is that he has no clue how simple or complicated things were (or are) in Native American culture. And that's what you call empty nostalgia.
Questions About Man and the Natural World
- Do you sympathize with Longfellow's way of treating Native Americans as more authentic than white people in their connection to nature? Why or why not?
- Why do you think Longfellow spends so much time obsessing over nature in this poem?
- How does Hiawatha use the natural world to his advantage? Can you think of any specific scenes where he does this?
Chew on This
In The Song of Hiawatha, Longfellow makes Native Americans seem more natural than white people by portraying them as simple and primitive.
In The Song of Hiawatha, we learn that anyone can connect with nature—if they just learn to listen.