The Courtship of Miles Standish

The Courtship of Miles Standish is an 1858 narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about the early days of Plymouth Colony, the colonial settlement established in America by the Mayflower Pilgrims.

Set against the backdrop of a fierce Indian war, the tale focuses on a love triangle among three Pilgrims: Miles Standish, Priscilla Mullens, and John Alden. Longfellow claimed the story was true, but the historical evidence is inconclusive. Nevertheless, the ballad was very popular in nineteenth-century America, immortalizing the Mayflower Pilgrims.

The Courtship of Miles Standish (1858) was a literary counterpoint to Henry Longfellow's earlier Evangeline (1847), the tragic tale of a woman whose lover disappears during the deportation of the Acadian people in 1755. Together, Evangeline and The Courtship of Miles Standish captured the bittersweet quality of America's colonial era. However, the plot of The Courtship of Miles Standish deliberately varies in emotional tone, unlike the steady tragedy of Longfellow's Evangeline. The Pilgrims grimly battle against disease and Indians, but are also obsessed with an eccentric love triangle, creating a curious mix of drama and comedy. Two bumbling, feuding roommates, Miles Standish and John Alden, vie for the affections of the beautiful Priscilla Mullins, who slyly tweaks the noses of her undiplomatic suitors. The independent-minded woman utters one of the most famous retorts ever: "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" The saga has a surprise ending, one full of optimism for the American future.

This story takes place nearly 400 years ago (c. 1621 AD) and led to a marital union that has produced the largest posterity pool of descendants in North America. Many Canadians and Americans living today are direct descendants of this love story.

A debate persists as to whether the tale is fact or fiction. The main characters, Miles Standish, John Alden, and Priscilla Mullins, have names of real-life Pilgrims. Henry Longfellow was a direct descendant and claimed that he was relating oral history. Skeptics dismiss his saga as a folktale, but no conclusive evidence exists either way.

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