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Style: what is it?
Task A - parodying Longfellow's 'Song of Hiawatha'
Below is a small excerpt from a well-known poem, 'The Song of Hiawatha',
by the 19th century American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In 22 cantos
and around 150 pages it tells the epic story of the American Indian prophet
Hiawatha, who uses his magical powers to bring peace to the warring Indian
nations. The poem, which gets its distinctive metre from the Finnish national
epic, the 'Kalevala', is loved by many and ridiculed by others.
The excerpt below is from the beginning of canto
2, 'The Four Winds'. After reading it, have a go at writing a few
lines parodying 'Hiawatha', and then compare your writing with
the 19th century parody at the end.
The Four Winds
'Honour be to Mudjekeewis!'
Cried the warriors, cried the old men,
When he came in triumph homeward
With the sacred belt of Wampum,
From the regions of the North-Wind,
From the kingdom of Wabasso,
From the land of the White Rabbit.
He had stolen the belt of Wampum
From the neck of Mishe-Mokwa,
From the Great Bear of the mountains,
From the terror of the nations,
As he lay asleep and cumbrous
On the summit of the mountains,
Like a rock with mosses on it,
Spotted brown and grey with mosses.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow  ,
'The Song of Hiawatha'
Veiw 19th century parody
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