Black Eagle Returns To St. Joe Poem Rhyme Scheme

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Edgar Lee Masters

Black Eagle Returns To St. Joe Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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This way and that way measuring	A
Sighting from tree to tree	B
And from the bend of the river	C
This must be the place where Black Eagle	D
Twelve hundred moons ago	E
Stood with folded arms	F
While a Pottawatomie father	C
Plunged a knife in his heart	G
For the murder of a son	H
Black Eagle stood with folded arms	F
Slim erect firm unafraid	I
Looking into the distance across the river	C
Then the knife flashed	J
Then the knife crashed through his ribs	K
And into his heart	G
And like a wounded eagle's wings	L
His arms fell slowly unfolding	A
And he sank to death without a groan	M
	-
And my name is Black Eagle too	N
And I am of the spirit	O
And perhaps of the blood	P
Of that Black Eagle of old	Q
I am naked and alone	M
But very happy	B
Being rich in spirit and in memories	R
I am very strong	S
I am very proud	T
Brave revengeful passionate	O
No longer deceived keen of eye	U
Wise in the ways of the tribes	V
A knower of winds mists rains snows changes	W
A knower of balsams simples blossoms grains	X
A knower of poisonous leaves deadly fungus herries	X
A knower of harmless snakes	X
And the livid copperhead	Y
Lastly a knower of the spirits	X
For there are many spirits	X
Spirits of hidden lakes	X
And of pine forests	X
Spirits of the dunes	X
And of forested valleys	X
Spirits of rivers mountains fields	X
And great distances	X
There are many spirits	X
Under the Great Spirit	O
Him I know not	Z
Him I only feel	A2
With closed eyes	X
Or when I look from my bed of moss by the river	C
At a sky of stars	X
When the leaves of the oak are asleep	B2
I will fill this birch bark full of writing	A
And hide it in the cleft of an oak	C2
Here where Black Eagle fell	D2
Decipher my story who can	E2
	-
When I was a boy of fourteen	F2
Tobacco Jim who owned many dogs	X
Rose from the door of his tent	G2
And came to where we were running	A
Young Coyote Rattler Little Fox	X
And said to me in their hearing	A
You are the fastest of all	H2
Now run again and let me see	X
And if you can run	H
I will make you my runner	C
I will care for you	N
And you shall have pockets of gold	Q
	-
And then we ran	E2
And the others lagged behind me	X
Like smoke behind the wind	I2
But the faces of Young Coyote Rattler Little Fox	X
Grew dark	J2
They nudged each other	C
They looked side ways	X
Toeing the earth in shame	K2
Then Tobacco Jim took me and trained me	X
And he went here and there	L2
To find a match	M2
And to get wagers of ponies nuggets of copper	C
And nuggets of gold	Q
And at last the match was made	I
	-
It was under a sky as blue as the cup of a harebell	H2
It was by a red and yellow mountain	H
It was by a great river	C
That we ran	E2
Hundreds of Indians came to the race	X
They babbled smoked and quarreled	N2
And everyone carried a knife	O2
And everyone carried a gun	H
And we runners	X
How young we were and unknowing	A
What the race meant to them	P2
For we saw nothing but the track	Q2
We saw nothing but our trainers	X
And the starters	X
And I saw no one but Tobacco Jim	R2
But the Indians and the squaws saw much else	X
They thought of the race in such different ways	X
From the way we thought of it	S2
For with me it was honor	C
It was triumph	T2
It was fame	K2
It was the tender looks of Indian maidens	X
Wherever I went	G2
But now I know that to Tobacco Jim	R2
And the old fathers and young bucks	X
The race meant jugs of whiskey	X
And new guns	X
It meant a squaw	X
A pony	X
Or some rise in the life of the tribe	U2
	-
So the shot of the starter rang at last	V2
And we were off	W2
I wore a band of yellow around my brow	X2
With an eagle's feather in it	S2
And a red strap for my loins	X
And as I ran the feather fluttered and sang	X
You are the swiftest runner Black Eagle	H2
They are all behind you	N
And they were all behind me	X
As the cloud's shadow is behind	I2
The bend of the grass under the wind	I2
But as we neared the end of the race	X
The onlookers the gamblers the old Indians	X
And the young bucks	X
Crowded close to the track	X
I fell and lost	Y2
	-
Next day Tobacco Jim went about	Z2
Lamenting his losses	X
And when I told him they tripped me	X
He cursed them	P2
But later he went about asking in whispers	X
If I was wise enough to throw the race	X
Then suddenly he disappeared	A3
And we heard rumors of his riches	X
Of his dogs and ponies	X
And of the joyous life he was leading	X
	-
Then my father took me to New Mexico	X
And here my life changed	B3
I was no longer the runner	C
I had forgotten it all	H2
I had become a wise Indian	H
I could do many things	X
I could read the white man's writing	X
And write it	S2
	-
And Indians flocked to me	X
Billy the Pelican Hooked Nosed Weasel	H2
Hungry Mole Big Jawed Prophet	O
And many others	X
They flocked to me for I could help them	P2
For the Great Spirit may pick a chief	C3
Or a leader	C
But sometimes the chief rises	X
By using wise Indians like me	X
Who are rich in gifts and powers	X
But at least it is true	N
All little great Indians	X
Who are after ponies	X
Jugs of whiskey and soft blankets	X
Gain their ends through the gifts and powers	X
Of wise Indians like me	X
They come to you and ask you to do this	X
And to do that	D3
And you do it because it would be small	H2
Not to do it	S2
And until all the cards are laid on the table	H2
You do not see what they were after	C
And then you see	X
They have won your friend away	E3
They have stolen your hill	H2
They have taken your place at the feast	F3
They are wearing your feathers	X
They have much gold	Q
And you are tired and without laughter	C
And they drift away from you	N
As Tobacco Jim went away from me	X
And you hear of them as rich and great	G3
And then you move on to another place	X
And another life	O2
	-
Billy the Pelican has built him a board house	X
And lives in Guthrie	X
Hook Nosed Weasel is a Justice of the Peace	X
Hungry Mole had his picture in the Denver News	X
He is helping the government	H3
To reclaim stolen lands	X
Many have told me it was Hungry Mole	H2
Who tripped me in the race	X
Big Jawed Prophet is very rich	I3
He has disappeared as an eagle	H2
With a rabbit	O
And I have come back here	J3
Where twelve hundred moons ago	X
Black Eagle before me	X
Had the knife run through his ribs	X
And through his heart	G
	-
I will hide this writing	X
In the cleft of the oak	X
By this bend in the river	C
Let him read who can	E2
I was a swift runner whom they tripped	K3