Abstract:Henry Wordsworth Longfellow was a predominant poet in the nineteenth century. However, among his poems, the novelty of The Song of Hiawatha encountered criticism coming from the critics as well as the readers. Extremely, this poem was labeled to be a “plagiary” which was characterized by the facts that this poem took the same meter as that of an epic poem, The Kalevala and this poem borrowed the resource of Algonkin legends presented in Schoolcraft’s collections.
This paper is a reconsideration of the criticism on the novelty of the Song of Hiawatha, in the perspective of Longfellow’s exclusive preference in choosing imagery in his writing. Specifically, I am attempting to contribute an evidence to demonstrate that the Song of Hiawatha is a fruit of re-creation by making a comparison between three certain images (arrow, song and oak) employed in this poem and the Arrow and the Song, relating with their writing backgrounds and the author’s religious belief.
Key words: Longfellow; criticism; image; novelty; religious belief
摘要:朗费罗是十九世纪一位著名的诗人，《海华沙之歌》是他的代表作之一。这部作品的原创性一度受到读者和评论家们的质疑，有过激者甚至指责他“剽窃”，理由是这首诗完全套用了史诗《英雄的国王》的韵律格式，而故事原型则来源于Schoolcraft 有关阿尔根金族人传奇的作品集。
本文通过对《海华沙之歌》和《箭与歌》（诗人早期的另一作品）中的意象选用进行类比分析，特别是两首诗中“箭”、“歌”、“橡树”三种意象的选用与作者的宗教背景的联系的阐述，基于有关作者与其创作过程中意象选择风格的理论，试图论证《海华沙之歌》是再创作的成果，以此重审那些质疑其原创性的批判。
关键词: 朗费罗; 批判; 意象；原创性; 宗教信仰
