Final answer:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow adapted traditional European verse forms such as the sonnet, epic poem, and ballad to American subjects, creating poems like "The Song of Hiawatha" and "Paul Revere's Ride" which integrated American themes into structured poetic forms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of the most renowned American poets of the 19th century, adeptly adapted various traditional verse forms to American subjects. He worked predominantly with established European forms and imbued them with uniquely American themes and sensibilities. For instance, Longfellow employed the Italian sonnet form, which is characterized by its 14 lines and specific rhyme scheme, and used it to address American historical narratives, such as in his poem "The Occultation of Orion."
Another verse form he utilized was the epic poem. His best-known work, "The Song of Hiawatha," is an epic poem that employs trochaic tetrameter, a meter notably used in Finnish epic poetry, which Longfellow combined with Native American mythology and characters to create a distinctively American narrative.
Additionally, Longfellow also wrote poems that followed the structure of the ballad, a form of verse often used in traditional European poetry to tell stories. In works like "Paul Revere's Ride," he applied the ballad form to recount historical American events in a stylized and rhythmic manner, making them accessible and memorable to his audience. Through these adaptations, Longfellow contributed to defining an American poetic identity.