Minnetonka Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABC DDEEFFGGAHH I GGJJKKLLMM BNNOPQQRJRSCS TTC BBUVLLWWGG QXYJZIJ HH| Note The Dakota name for this beautiful lake is Me ne a | A |
| tan ka Broad Water By dropping the a before | B |
| tanka we have changed the name to Big Water | C |
| - | |
| - | |
| I sit once more on breezy shore at sunset in this glorious June | D |
| I hear the dip of gleaming oar I list the singer's merry tune | D |
| Beneath my feet the waters beat and ripple on the polished stones | E |
| The squirrel chatters from his seat the bag pipe beetle hums and drones | E |
| The pink and gold in blooming wold the green hills mirrored in the lake | F |
| The deep blue waters zephyr rolled along the murmuring pebbles break | F |
| The maples screen the ferns and lean the leafy lindens o'er the deep | G |
| The sapphire set in emerald green lies like an Orient gem asleep | G |
| The crimsoned west glows like the breast of Rhuddin a | A |
| when he pipes in May | H |
| As downward droops the sun to rest and shadows gather on the bay | H |
| - | |
| a The Welsh name for the robin | I |
| - | |
| In amber sky the swallows fly and sail and circle o'er the deep | G |
| The light winged night hawks whir and cry the silver pike and salmon leap | G |
| The rising moon the woods aboon looks laughing down on lake and lea | J |
| Weird o'er the waters shrills the loon the high stars twinkle in the sea | J |
| From bank and hill the whippowil sends piping forth his flute like notes | K |
| And clear and shrill the answers trill from leafy isles and silver throats | K |
| The twinkling light on cape and height the hum of voices on the shores | L |
| The merry laughter on the night the dip and plash of frolic oars | L |
| These tell the tale On hill and dale the cities pour their gay and fair | M |
| Along the sapphire lake they sail and quaff like wine the balmy air | M |
| - | |
| 'Tis well Of yore from isle and shore | B |
| the smoke of Indian teepees a rose | N |
| The hunter plied the silent oar the forest lay in still repose | N |
| The moon faced maid in leafy glade her warrior waited from the chase | O |
| The nut brown naked children played and chased the gopher on the grass | P |
| The dappled fawn on wooded lawn peeped out upon the birch canoe | Q |
| Swift gliding in the gray of dawn along the silent waters blue | Q |
| In yonder tree the great Wanm dee b securely built her spacious nest | R |
| The blast that swept the land locked sea c | J |
| but rocked her clamorous babes to rest | R |
| By grassy mere the elk and deer gazed on the hunter as he came | S |
| Nor fled with fear from bow or spear so wild were they that they were | C |
| tame | S |
| - | |
| a Lodges | T |
| b Wanm dee the war eagle of the Dakotas | T |
| c Lake Superior | C |
| - | |
| Ah birch canoe and hunter too have long forsaken lake and shore | B |
| He bade his father's bones adieu and turned away forevermore | B |
| But still methinks on dusky brinks the spirit of the warrior moves | U |
| At crystal springs the hunter drinks and nightly haunts the spot he loves | V |
| For oft at night I see the light of lodge fires on the shadowy shores | L |
| And hear the wail some maiden's sprite above her slaughtered warrior pours | L |
| I hear the sob on Spirit Knob a of Indian mother o'er her child | W |
| And on the midnight waters throb her low yun he he's b weird and wild | W |
| And sometimes too the light canoe glides like a shadow o'er the deep | G |
| At midnight when the moon is low and all the shores are hushed in sleep | G |
| - | |
| a Spirit Knob is a small hill up on a point in the lake in full view | Q |
| from Wayzata The spirit of a Dakota mother whose only child was drowned | X |
| in the lake during a storm many many years ago often wails at midnight | Y |
| so the Dakotas say on this hill So they called it Wa na gee | J |
| Pa ze dan Spirit Knob Literally little hill of the spirit | Z |
| b Pronounced Yoon hay hay the exclamation used by Dakota women | I |
| in their lament for the dead and equivalent to woe is me | J |
| - | |
| Alas Alas for all things pass and we shall vanish too as they | H |
| We build our monuments of brass and granite but they waste away | H |
Hanford Lennox Gordon
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
About Minnetonka
Minnetonka is a poem by Hanford Lennox Gordon. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
Write your comment about Minnetonka poem by Hanford Lennox Gordon
Best Poems of Hanford Lennox Gordon