There once was a girl
“There once was a girl-
Who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead
When she was good, she was very very good
Bit when she was bad she was horrid.”
My dad used to recite this little bed time limerick to me as a kid. It stuck. It stuck because I had curls. This is a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, and I have some questions for ya Mr. Wadsworth. So what’s the message to curly hair girls here Henry? “Horrid”, Henry? Really? Your assessment is that if you have curls, and are a girl, you could go only go one of twos ways? Let me rephrase that. Good or horrid were my choices? Boy, that’s a stickler Henry. Synonyms for horrid are: gross, nasty, noxious, obscene, scandalous and ugly. Synonyms for good include… Ok, actually they include words like- actual, real, true, informed, logical, levelheaded, plausible, respected and principled. I like those. I strive for those, but I don’t think that is the connotation you intended. Am I right, Henry? More fitting synonyms for this context would be: agreeable, congenial, obedient, pleasing, and pretty. I wanted to be good to be very very good, Henry. Unfortunately, fast forward fifty years and I failed. Turns out I am bad, very very bad. Horrid indeed. I tried to be good, you know agreeable, amenable compliant, and submissive. Turns out that didn’t work so well. Like my curls, I am uncontrollable, wild and unruly. I don’t know what went wrong H.W. Honestly I don’t. But I think it has something to do with my curly hair as you originally suggested. Sure enough, in 2003 Jack White and the White Stripes later substantiated your 19th century poem when he wrote: “cut up your hair, straighten your curls, your problems hide in your curls.” in Little Acorns. Note taken.
Non sequitur here. … As a historian, I also have some questions about your other poems. The Ride of Paul Revere and the Song of Hiawatha specifically. Paul Revere was recited in schools for the last century in America. Your poem was used as historical evidence in classrooms and created substantial misconceptions in the minds of young Americans. I heard Paul himself was uncomfortable to acknowledge fame from your prose. I read he disapproved of his own recognition from your fictional ride about him and refused tribute to it on his tombstone. I don’t know Henry, is any of this true?
The Song of Hiawatha also became debated in schools, absorbed in English classes and later parodied in the media. Your vivid descriptions of Native Americans were revived in the 1940’s. Another time of war propaganda. Stereotypical “Indians” condescendingly dressed in colorful mock frocks. Traditional dignified Native American garments reduced to ridicule from your poem. Example: “Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt,” starring a one mr. Bugs Bunny (copyright). It became commonplace in cartoons. Indians portrayed as simple- minded school children popularized with a single feather in a headband, black braids and big dopy eyes that induce pity.
Is that what you wanted Henry? I don’t think I’ll ever know, but I have a hunch what happened, and I want to believe that you just wanted to write. Write about cool stuff and cool stories. Whats the harm, right? My suspicion is that your words were used out of context and capitalized on by the current chiefs in charge. (no sad pun intended). ‘Managers’ turned your words about civilized peoples and one fictitious Revolutionary ridder into characters, mascots and maligned morons. Your vivid descriptions became Halloween costumes and scripted school plays. You became a celebrity and the masses bought it.
Now, I don’t want to make you feel bad Mr. Wadsworth. Feel a butt coming on? Just so you know, from your time (the late 19th century) to 1996, tens of thousands of indigenous children were taken from their parens and “re-educated” by cruel Catholic institutions. Just last week I read that in Kamlops British Columbia the bodies of 215 school children were found in a an unmarked mass grave. I don’t think this is your fault Henry, and I don’t think as many people would have been complicit with those catastrophes if your words were not propagated.
Your words influenced generations of learners from curly haired girls being taught to acquiesce- to an unfortunate factitious his-story poem about an un-hero thought to be a literal reenactment boasting conquest from the ‘victors’. Those victors then exploited your words and taught others to dehumanize Indigenous individuals through the clever use of lyrics in the classroom. I’m leaving this with a cautionary tale Henry. I think I’ll be ok, as I am not a writer, like you, as I have been told by teachers, you know students from your generation, that told me because I don’t write as good as you, I am not a writer. So, my words should be safe. Thanks.