Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha certainly invites parody, and its easy metre is readily caught up by any one having an ordinarily good ear, and knack of versification. Consequently parodies of it abound; unfortunately they become somewhat wearisome in perusal from the monotonous diction, and some of the best only will be quoted at length.
The following, written by Mr. J. W. Morris, appeared in the Bath and Cheltenham Gazette shortly after the appearance of Longfellow's poem, and is interesting as giving an account of the feelings with which Hiawatha was first received:—
HIAWATHA.
(A Parody.)
DO you ask me what I think of
This new song of Hiawatha,
With its legends and traditions,
And its frequent repetitions
Of hard names which make the jaw ache,
And of words most unpoetic?