Minnehaha Minnehaha Minnehaha is a fictional Native American woman documented in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 epic poem "The Song of Hiawatha". She is the lover of the titular protagonist Hiawatha and comes to a tragic end. The name, often said to mean "laughing water", literally translates to "waterfall" or "rapid water" in Dakota. The figure of Minnehaha inspired later art works such as paintings, sculpture and music. "The Death of Minnehaha" is a frequent subject for paintings. Minnehaha Falls and her death scene inspired themes in the 'New World' symphony by Antonín Dvořák. Longfellow's poem was set in a cantata trilogy,
Caramuru (epic poem) Caramuru (epic poem) Caramuru is an epic poem written by Brazilian Augustinian friar Santa Rita Durão. It was published in 1781, and it is one of the most famous Indianist works of Brazilian Neoclassicism – the other being Basílio da Gama's "O Uraguai". Inspired by Luís de Camões' "The Lusiads", it is divided in ten cantos. The poem tells the story of the famous Portuguese sailor Diogo Álvares Correia, also known as "Caramuru" (Old Tupi for "Son of the Thunder"), who shipwrecked on the shores of present-day Bahia and had to live among the Indians. The poem also alludes to