It had established quite a new idea of poetry even in America, where the great American poet Poe introduced it into his compositions before Longfellow studied the "Kalevala." I told you that the work of Poe, small as it is, had influenced almost every poet of the great epoch, including Tennyson and the Victorian masters.

But the work even of Poe was rather instinctive than the result of any systematic idea.

The systematic idea was best illustrated when the study of the "Kalevala" began.
Let us see how Longfellow used the suggestion; but remember that he was only a beginner, dealing with something entirely new--that he did not have the strength of Tennyson nor the magical genius of Swinburne to help him.
He worked very simply, and probably very rapidly.

There is a good deal of his song of "Hiawatha" that is scarcely worthy of praise, and it is difficult to quote effectively from it, because the charm of the thing depends chiefly upon its reading as a whole.

Nevertheless there are parts which so well show or imitate the Finnish spirit, that I must try to quote them.