SOURCE: “Longfellow's Political Fears: Civic Authority and the Role of the Artist in Hiawatha and Miles Standish,” in American Literature, Vol. L, No. 2, May, 1978, pp. 187-215.

In the following essay, Ferguson determines the influence of political events, particularly the Civil War, on Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha and The Courtship of Miles Standish.

I

In 1849 Henry Longfellow wrote that the three-fold function of the poet was “to charm, to strengthen, and to teach” and he added that these elements inevitably worked together to form “the most perfect harmony.”¹ These assumptions did not furnish the best preparation for close examination and description of the political turmoil that would tear the Union apart during the ensuing decade. Indeed, large aspects of Longfellow's temperament were completely unsuited for coping with the American problems of the 1850's. The poet's geniality, his emphasis upon repose and upon a certain serenity of voice in...