The Ballad Of Yaada [1] Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A AAAA BABA BBBB CDCD BBBB CBCB EFEF EBEB CGCG HIHI ABAB JBJB CACA

A LEGEND OF THE PACIFIC COASTA
-
There are fires on Lulu Island and the sky is opalescentA
With the pearl and purple tinting from the smouldering of peatA
And the Dream Hills lift their summits in a sweeping hazy crescentA
With the Capilano canyon at their feetA
-
There are fires on Lulu Island and the smoke uplifting lingersB
In a faded scarf of fragrance as it creeps across the dayA
And the Inlet and the Narrows blur beneath its silent fingersB
And the canyon is enfolded in its greyA
-
But the sun its face is veiling like a cloistered nun at vespersB
As towards the alter candles of the night a censer swingsB
And the echo of tradition wakes from slumbering and whispersB
Where the Capilano river sobs and singsB
-
It was Yaada lovely Yaada who first taught the stream its sighingC
For 'twas silent till her coming and 'twas voiceless as the shoreD
But throughout the great forever it will sing the song undyingC
That the lips of lovers sing for evermoreD
-
He was chief of all the Squamish and he ruled the coastal watersB
And he warred upon her people in the distant Charlotte IslesB
She a winsome basket weaver daintiest of Haida daughtersB
Made him captive to her singing and her smilesB
-
Till his hands forgot to havoc and his weapons lost their lustingC
Till his stormy eyes allured her from the land of Totem PolesB
Till she followed where he called her followed with a woman's trustingC
To the canyon where the Capilano rollsB
-
And the women of the Haidas plied in vain their magic powerE
Wailed for many moons her absence wailed for many moons their prayerF
Bring her back O Squamish foeman bring to us our Yaada flowerE
But the silence only answered their despairF
-
But the men were swift to battle swift to cross the coastal waterE
Swift to war and swift of weapon swift to paddle trackless milesB
Crept with stealth along the canyon stole her from her love and brought herE
Once again unto the distant Charlotte IslesB
-
But she faded ever faded and her eyes were ever turningC
Southward toward the Capilano while her voice had hushed its songG
And her riven heart repeated words that on her lips were burningC
Not to friend but unto foeman I belongG
-
Give me back my Squamish lover though you hate I still must love himH
Give me back the rugged canyon where my heart must ever beI
Where his lodge awaits my coming and the Dream Hills lift above himH
And the Capilano learned its song from meI
-
But through long forgotten seasons moons too many to be numberedA
He yet waited by the canyon she called across the yearsB
And the soul within the river though centuries had slumberedA
Woke to sob a song of womanly tearsB
-
For her little lonely spirit sought the Capilano canyonJ
When she died among the Haidas in the land of Totem PolesB
And you yet may hear her singing to her lover like companionJ
If you listen to the river as it rollsB
-
But 'tis only when the pearl and purple smoke is idly swingingC
From the fires on Lulu Island to the hazy mountain crestA
That the undertone of sobbing echoes through the river's singingC
In the Capilano canyon of the WestA

Emily Pauline Johnson



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