The Canoe Race Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFBGHIHJIIIKIIID IG IDIGCDLMIIINOKOPMIQK QIIKIOIIIKOOORSMSDMI MI| Now a light rustling wind from the South | A |
| shakes his wings o'er the wide wimpling waters | B |
| Up the dark winding river DuLuth | C |
| follows fast in the wake of Tamdoka | D |
| On the slopes of the emerald shores | E |
| leafy woodlands and prairies alternate | F |
| On the vine tangled islands the flowers | B |
| peep timidly out at the white men | G |
| In the dark winding eddy the loon | H |
| sits warily watching and voiceless | I |
| And the wild goose in reedy lagoon | H |
| stills the prattle and play of her children | J |
| The does and their sleek dappled fawns | I |
| prick their ears and peer out from the thickets | I |
| And the bison calves play on the lawns | I |
| and gambol like colts in the clover | K |
| Up the still flowing Wakpa Wakan's | I |
| winding path through the groves and the meadows | I |
| Now DuLuth's brawny boatmen pursue | I |
| the swift gliding bark of Tamdoka | D |
| And hardly the red braves out do | I |
| the stout steady oars of the white men | G |
| - | |
| Now they bend to their oars in the race | I |
| the ten tawny braves of Tamdoka | D |
| And hard on their heels in the chase | I |
| ply the six stalwart oars of the Frenchmen | G |
| In the stern of his boat sits DuLuth | C |
| in the stern of his boat sits Tamdoka | D |
| And warily cheerily both urge | L |
| the oars of their men to the utmost | M |
| Far stretching away to the eyes | I |
| winding blue in the midst of the meadows | I |
| As a necklet of sapphires that lies | I |
| unclaspt in the lap of a virgin | N |
| Here asleep in the lap of the plain | O |
| lies the reed bordered beautiful river | K |
| Like two flying coursers that strain | O |
| on the track neck and neck on the home stretch | P |
| With nostrils distended and mane froth flecked | M |
| and the neck and the shoulders | I |
| Each urged to his best by the cry | Q |
| and the whip and the rein of his rider | K |
| Now they skim o'er the waters and fly | Q |
| side by side neck and neck through the meadows | I |
| The blue heron flaps from the reeds | I |
| and away wings her course up the river | K |
| Straight and swift is her flight o'er the meads | I |
| but she hardly outstrips the canoemen | O |
| See the voyageurs bend to their oars | I |
| till the blue veins swell out on their foreheads | I |
| And the sweat from their brawny breasts pours | I |
| but in vain their Herculean labor | K |
| For the oars of Tamdoka are ten | O |
| and but six are the oars of the Frenchman | O |
| And the red warriors' burden of men | O |
| is matched by the voyageurs' luggage | R |
| Side by side neck and neck for a mile | S |
| still they strain their strong arms to the utmost | M |
| Till rounding a willowy isle | S |
| now ahead creeps the boat of Tamdoka | D |
| And the neighboring forests profound | M |
| and the far stretching plain of the meadows | I |
| To the whoop of the victors resound | M |
| while the panting French rest on their paddles | I |
Hanford Lennox Gordon
(1)
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