A dramatization of Longfellow's Hiawatha: A spectacular drama in six acts — Context and Discussion

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Authors: Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882, De Vine, Alice L. Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2022 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Indians of North America -- Drama; Hiawatha, active 15th century -- Drama Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

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Words 11,484

Reading time 50 min

Text sections 10

For A dramatization of Longfellow's Hiawatha: A spectacular drama in six acts — Context and Discussion, the stored edition analysis reports 11,484 words, 50 min estimated reading time, and 10 detected text sections.

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Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Indians of North America -- Drama,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #67148

Alice L. De Vine's 1895 dramatization of Longfellow's Hiawatha adapts the poem into a six-act spectacle, emphasizing stage directions, song lyrics, and allegorical figures like Fever and Famine, while preserving the original's trochaic meter and epic tone.

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labors. Swift of foot was Hiawatha; He could shoot an arrow from him, And run forward with such fleetness, That the arrow fell behind him! Strong of arm was Hiawatha; He could shoot ten arrows upward, Shoot them with such strength and swiftness, That the tenth had left the bow-string Ere the first to earth had fallen! He had mittens, Minjekahwun, Magic mittens made of deer-skin; When upon his hands he wore them, He could smite the rocks asunder He could grind them into powder. He had moccasins enchanted, Magic moccasins of deer-skin: When he bound them round his ankles, When upon his feet he tied them, At each stride a mile he measured!

_Hiawatha_; (_speaking meditatively_):

As unto the bow the cord is, So unto the man is woman, Though she bends him, she obeys him, Though she draws him, yet she follows, Useless each without the other!

_Nokomis_; (_in a warning and dissuading voice_):

Wed a maiden of your people, Go not eastward, go not westward, For a stranger, whom we know not! Like a fire upon the hearth-stone Is a neighbor’s homely daughter, Like the starlight or the moonlight Is the handsomest of strangers!

_Hiawatha_; (_persuadingly_):

Dear old Nokomis, Very pleasant is the firelight. But I like the starlight better, Better do I like the moonlight!

_Nokomis_; (_gravely_):

Bring not here an idle maiden, Bring not here a useless woman, Hands unskillful, feet unwilling; Bring a wife with nimble fingers, Heart and hand that move together, Feet that run on willing errands!

_Hiawatha_, (_Smiling_):

In the land of the Dacotahs Lives the Arrow-maker’s daughter, Minnehaha, Laughing water, Handsomest of all the women. I will bring her to your wigwam, She shall run upon your errands, Be your starlight, moonlight, firelight, Be the sunlight of my people!

_Nokomis_, (_still dissuading_):

Bring not to my lodge a stranger From the land of the Dacotahs! Very fierce are the Dacotahs, Often is there war between us. There are feuds yet unforgotten, Wounds that ache and still may open!

_Hiawatha_, (_laughing_):

For that reason, if no other, Would I wed the fair Dacotah, That our tribes might be united, That old feuds might be forgotten, And old wounds be healed forever!

_During this conversation HIAWATHA stops his work and prepares for his journey, OLD NOKOMIS becoming more and more earnest and entreating as his preparations proceed: when he goes, she follows and tries to detain him, then watches him out of sight, and the curtain falls while she stands alone, weeping, despondent and sorrowing at the door of her wigwam._

_Description of Hiawatha_:

Dressed for travel, armed for hunting; Dressed in deer-skin shirt and leggings, Richly wrought with quills and wampum; On his head his eagle-feathers. Round his waist his belt of wampum, In his hand his bow of ash-wood, Strung with sinews of the reindeer; In his quiver oaken arrows, Tipped with jasper, winged with feathers; With his mittens, Minjekahwun, With his moccasins enchanted.

Thus departed Hiawatha To the land of the Dacotahs, To the land of handsome women;

Homeward weeping went Nokomis Sorrowing for her Hiawatha.

Scene Second. Hiawatha’s Journey.

_A short scene can be given here, showing a deep forest, also giving a view of Hiawatha upon his journey and with his bow and arrow, shooting the deer which he takes MINNEHAHA as a gift, and lays at her feet on his arrival._

Through the forest deep and lonely, Then he journeyed without resting, Till he heard the cataract’s laughter, Heard the Falls of Minnehaha Calling to him through the silence. Standing, Listening, he murmured,

Pleasant is the sound! Pleasant is the voice that calls me!

On the outskirts of the forest, Twixt the shadow and the sunshine, Herds of fallow deer were feeding. But they saw not Hiawatha;

_Hiawatha (whispering to his bow)_:

_Hiawatha (whispering to his arrow)_:

Sent it singing on its errand, To the red heart of the roebuck; Threw the deer across his shoulder, And sped forward without pausing.

“TRIBE OF THE DACOTAHS,”

HOME OF THE ARROW-MAKER.

Scene Third. Wooing of Minnehaha.

_As perfect an imitation as possible of the Scenery of and about MINNEHAHA FALLS. With the FALLS, also Very High Rocks in the background. In the foreground, at the base of Minnehaha Falls, a wigwam, representing the appearance and interior of a wigwam of the DACOTAH TRIBE. MINNEHAHA to be tall, straight, dashing and handsome. (See the following Description.)_

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Alice L. De Vine's 1895 dramatization of Longfellow's Hiawatha transforms the narrative poem into a six-act stage spectacle, complete with detailed stage directions, song lyrics, and allegorical figures. The adaptation retains Longfellow's distinctive trochaic tetrameter, as seen in Hiawatha's lament: "O this long and dreary Winter / O this cold and cruel Winter!" De Vine's introductory note frames the work as an educational portrayal of Native American life, claiming it "will be found historical, an educator to the young and interesting to all." The drama incorporates dances, tableaux, and colored lights, with explicit instructions for a "national Indian dance" and soft music behind scenes.

Meter and Voice: Preserving Longfellow's Cadence

De Vine adheres closely to Longfellow's trochaic meter, a rhythmic choice that gives the dialogue a chant-like quality. In Act V, Hiawatha's speech follows the same pattern: "Ever thicker, thicker, thicker / Grows the ice on lake and river." The repetition of words like "thicker" and "deeper" mimics the poem's incantatory style. However, the dramatization occasionally shifts into prose for stage directions, creating a contrast between the poetic dialogue and the practical instructions for staging. The lullaby in Act II, with its refrain "O my sweetheart, my Algonquin!" preserves the lyrical repetition of the original, while the ghostly figures of Fever and Famine speak in a more fragmented, sorrowful rhythm: "Sobbing, weeping, wailing." This variation in voice—from epic declamation to intimate song—shows De Vine's attempt to balance fidelity to the poem with theatrical necessity.

Stage Directions as Narrative Engine

The play's stage directions are unusually elaborate, often carrying the narrative weight. In Act V, the entrance of Fever and Famine is described in detail: "Two women entered softly, / Passed the doorway uninvited, / Without word of salutation." The directions specify their appearance—"two tall, slim girls, with white, haggard faces, dressed entirely in black drapery"—and their movements: "Crouching low among the shadows." These instructions not only guide the actors but also create a visual allegory that reinforces the themes of suffering and supernatural intervention. Similarly, the synopsis for Act III includes a note: "Indian pastimes, games, dances and specialties should be here introduced," leaving room for improvisation. The stage directions thus function as a hybrid of script and production manual, reflecting the play's origins as a "spectacular drama" intended for live performance.

Pacing Through Allegory and Spectacle

The six-act structure shifts between intimate scenes and large-scale spectacle. Act I opens with Gitche Manitou descending from heaven, fashioning a peace pipe, and setting fire to the forest—a grand visual effect. In contrast, Act V focuses on the claustrophobic interior of Nokomis's tepee, where Hiawatha, Nokomis, and Minnehaha show "starvation and great suffering." The allegorical figures of Fever and Famine slow the pace, their mournful dialogue and static presence creating a tableau of despair. The play then accelerates into dance sequences: "The Harvest Dance, Ghost Dance or a War Dance, with colored lights thrown upon the scene." This alternation between static, dialogue-heavy scenes and dynamic, music-driven spectacle shapes the rhythm of the drama, moving from epic exposition to personal tragedy to celebratory performance.

Readers approaching this dramatization should attend to the interplay between Longfellow's poetic language and De Vine's theatrical innovations. The stage directions offer a window into late-nineteenth-century performance practices, while the allegorical figures and dance sequences reveal the era's fascination with spectacle and moral instruction. The play's claim to be "the first and only known drama of this kind" invites comparison with other adaptations of epic poetry for the stage.

The rain tapped the window while I worked through De Vine’s Hiawatha, noticing how her stage directions gave even Fever and Famine a kind of mournful dignity. That patience for suffering lingered. Later, half-absorbed, I picked up The Return of Peter Grimm — Themes and Context and found the same quiet reverence for what cannot be hurried — losses that ask only to be witnessed, not fixed.