The Value of Roots

The Value of Roots

The era of the American Revolution was a time of great nationalism, hope, and unity. People who were once only colonists were now citizens of a new and exciting nation. As the years wore on, however, the citizens of the United States were faced with the reality of building a country. The nation strove to find a place for itself, to become secure against the power of the rest of the world. Industry grew along with the population, but what the new country gained in strength it lost in spirit. Regional tensions emerged as well as burning political issues. In the aftermath of the civil war the still young nation attempted to regain this nationalism that was once the strength of the country. One area this attempt was prominent in was literature. Two poets specifically sought to find a national mythology by examining what American's value and why it is necessary to pass it on through tradition. The poems by John Greenleaf Whittier and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow are a call for preserving the roots found in the land of America and in the heart of an American.

Longfellow's "Hiawatha" presents the image of an Indian chant about the traditions, history and beauty inherent in nature. The narrator explains how the birds, trees, mountains and rivers all hold stories of the past.

Should you ask where Nawadaha

Found these songs so wild and wayward,

Found these legends and traditions,

I should answer, I should tell you,

"In the bird's-nests of the forest,

In the lodges of the beaver,

In the hoof-prints of the bison,

In the eyry of the eagle!

But most importantly the narrator encourages the reader to seek out one important story, the song of Hiawatha. Why is this song of Hiawatha so crucial, the reader might ask. The narrator replies:

Sang the Song of Hiawatha,

Sang his wondrous birth and being,

How he prayed and how he fasted,

How he loved, and toiled, and suffered,

That the tribes of men might prosper,

That he might advance his people!"

The importance of the past is proclaimed here. One should never forget those that came before him to pave the way. Not only should one not forget but one should learn from it and use the knowledge gained to push into the future.

Listen to this simple story,

To this Song of Hiawatha!...

For a while to muse, and ponder

On a half effaced inscription...

Full of all the tender pathos

Of the here and the Hereafter;-