Reviews for Hero's way; contemporary poems in the mythic tradition

The average rating for Hero's way; contemporary poems in the mythic tradition based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-04-26 00:00:00 Rhoderick Patricio I do like this series. I learn the most interesting things even beyond what I would hope to. For example, Longfellow's very American, and very much interested in exploring the growing pains of our young country. And many lines and verses from his poems have been shared so often they're idioms, like lines from Shakespeare and Frost and a few others. One poem I discovered that I love is "Aftermath" as it just rolls out, when read aloud, like a song, with the intonations revealing the moods and perspectives of both participant & observer of the action of the poem. Think of Poe's "Raven" and how one naturally gives it the right amount of gravitas, melancholy, and passion as one reads it aloud, or Moore's "Night Before Christmas" which goes from serene to exciting to jolly to conclusive. "Aftermath" isn't quite that easy but it's lovely to me. In fact, many of his poems are musical enough that they were the ones that children used to memorize and then perform for the community. Hiawatha, Evangeline, Paul Revere, the Hesperus.... They're all his. One of his poems is even a Christmas carol "The Christmas Bells!" The biography and illustrations are engaging and helpful, as always in this series. I think that if there's a good narrative bio of Longfellow I'd like to read it, too, as he seems like he had an interesting life w/out *too* much dysfunction or trauma. Recommended, of course.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-06-18 00:00:00 J. Scott Hobtby Later this summer I'll be visiting the Longfellow Museum in Portland, Maine, and in preparation I wanted to learn a little about him and read some of his poetry. Because I wanted to read a LITTLE about him, as opposed to a lot, I thought a children's collection would be an appropriate choice. This particular edition gave a nice introduction to the writer, sharing some of his best loved poems, including selections from "The Song of Hiawatha" and the ahistorical "Paul Revere's Ride." By far my favorite poem was "A Psalm of Life," where the phrase "leave behind us footprints on the sands of time" originates. I also enjoyed "The Children's Hour." This particular book is beautifully illustrated by Chad Wallace; his pictures would add so much to the poems for a young reader.