For what it is, a European-American's poem about a native American legend, it was surprisingly captivating. It rambled on about birds and trees a lot, and the rhythm is a little distracting, but as a spoken-word story or as something to read ignoring the rhythm, the story is a perfect legend. He has a knack for imagery and emotion, that he weaves in and among the bigger than life character of Hiawatha. Even where Hiawatha is clean, scarcely dark at all, he doesn't suffer from a lack of depth because of it. I will be reading more of this Longfellow.
