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 COAST | A |
| - | |
| There are fires on Lulu Island and the sky is opalescent | A |
| With the pearl and purple tinting from the smouldering of peat | A |
| And the Dream Hills lift their summits in a sweeping hazy crescent | A |
| With the Capilano canyon at their feet | A |
| - | |
| There are fires on Lulu Island and the smoke uplifting lingers | B |
| In a faded scarf of fragrance as it creeps across the day | A |
| And the Inlet and the Narrows blur beneath its silent fingers | B |
| And the canyon is enfolded in its grey | A |
| - | |
| But the sun its face is veiling like a cloistered nun at vespers | B |
| As towards the alter candles of the night a censer swings | B |
| And the echo of tradition wakes from slumbering and whispers | B |
| Where the Capilano river sobs and sings | B |
| - | |
| It was Yaada lovely Yaada who first taught the stream its sighing | C |
| For 'twas silent till her coming and 'twas voiceless as the shore | D |
| But throughout the great forever it will sing the song undying | C |
| That the lips of lovers sing for evermore | D |
| - | |
| He was chief of all the Squamish and he ruled the coastal waters | B |
| And he warred upon her people in the distant Charlotte Isles | B |
| She a winsome basket weaver daintiest of Haida daughters | B |
| Made him captive to her singing and her smiles | B |
| - | |
| Till his hands forgot to havoc and his weapons lost their lusting | C |
| Till his stormy eyes allured her from the land of Totem Poles | B |
| Till she followed where he called her followed with a woman's trusting | C |
| To the canyon where the Capilano rolls | B |
| - | |
| And the women of the Haidas plied in vain their magic power | E |
| Wailed for many moons her absence wailed for many moons their prayer | F |
| Bring her back O Squamish foeman bring to us our Yaada flower | E |
| But the silence only answered their despair | F |
| - | |
| But the men were swift to battle swift to cross the coastal water | E |
| Swift to war and swift of weapon swift to paddle trackless miles | B |
| Crept with stealth along the canyon stole her from her love and brought her | E |
| Once again unto the distant Charlotte Isles | B |
| - | |
| But she faded ever faded and her eyes were ever turning | C |
| Southward toward the Capilano while her voice had hushed its song | G |
| And her riven heart repeated words that on her lips were burning | C |
| Not to friend but unto foeman I belong | G |
| - | |
| Give me back my Squamish lover though you hate I still must love him | H |
| Give me back the rugged canyon where my heart must ever be | I |
| Where his lodge awaits my coming and the Dream Hills lift above him | H |
| And the Capilano learned its song from me | I |
| - | |
| But through long forgotten seasons moons too many to be numbered | A |
| He yet waited by the canyon she called across the years | B |
| And the soul within the river though centuries had slumbered | A |
| Woke to sob a song of womanly tears | B |
| - | |
| For her little lonely spirit sought the Capilano canyon | J |
| When she died among the Haidas in the land of Totem Poles | B |
| And you yet may hear her singing to her lover like companion | J |
| If you listen to the river as it rolls | B |
| - | |
| But 'tis only when the pearl and purple smoke is idly swinging | C |
| From the fires on Lulu Island to the hazy mountain crest | A |
| That the undertone of sobbing echoes through the river's singing | C |
| In the Capilano canyon of the West | A |
Emily Pauline Johnson
(1)
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The Ballad Of Yaada [1] is a poem by Emily Pauline Johnson. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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