The Feast Of The Virgins Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDDEFGFHHIJIJKL MMNCNCCNMM OPQPPFFRRSSCCCTT CCDCCDUVWJDWD XBXYOOHH ZZDCCDBYA2A2WB2WB2RR WRWR ZZCCVDDCV C2C2RRSD2E2SJC2C2 JF2F2JG2JJG2C2H2C2H2 I2I2J2F2F2KK2KL2 M2M2N2JJN2JWWWJJW A2JA2JA2JO2O2P2P2Q2Q 2R2WWP2 WWWWWM2R2M2R2XXS2JFN WWWXWT2L2WWU2WU2JXJX V2RW2RT2L2WWWX2JI2I2 S2S2S2JJY2Y2A2A2Z2A3 JB3JB3WJJW R2OOR2WJWJJJVVC3D3EE 3E3WF3WF3C2G3C2G3A2A 2H3I3I3XXJJE2IE2II2X XI2 JJI2LWWL TH2TH2KJJR2KRRR2RJRJ RR2R2R2WXWXW JWWJR2R2JN2N2XJJJJX N2ZJEJA2A2JJR2R2J3IJ 3IJJRR N2KJ2N2RRSRSS K3K3A2A2F2R2R2F2FFO2 R2O2L3R2R2F3F3R2R2J2 KR2RJRJS2X FFN2N2N2N2RN2RN2JM3C 3JM3RRN3N2N3N2O3 R2R2N2N2JJJK3JK3JC2C 2 N2JN2JC2R2R2C2JJJ RRC2C2RRRR P3Q3JQ3JJF2JF2 S2JN2N2JC2 JC2JJJJJ R3JR3JRR2R2RR2R JJJJJS2JJA2A2A2JH3H3 J JJH3H3JJJ R2RR2R2R2RRRRRRRRR2R RRRS3S3 JJF2F2JJJR2R2JJR2R2S 2J JJT3T3JT3JJJJJJJ S2JJJJJRT3T3RT3RRR2J R2JJRJR JJJJJJJRRRRJJU3U3RR

The sun sails high in his azure realms	A
Beneath the arch of the breezy elms	A
The feast is spread by the murmuring river	B
With his battle spear and his bow and quiver	B
And eagle plumes in his ebon hair	C
The chief Wakawa himself is there	C
And round the feast in the Sacred Ring	D
Sit his weaponed warriors witnessing	D
Not a morsel of food have the Virgins tasted	E
For three long days ere the holy feast	F
They sat in their teepee alone and fasted	G
Their faces turned to the Sacred East	F
In the polished bowls lies the golden maize	H
And the flesh of fawn on the polished trays	H
For the Virgins the bloom of the prairies wide	I
The blushing pink and the meek blue bell	J
The purple plumes of the prairie's pride	I
The wild uncultured asphodel	J
And the beautiful blue eyed violet	K
That the Virgins call Let me not forget	L
In gay festoons and garlands twine	M
With the cedar sprigs and the wildwood vine	M
So gaily the Virgins are decked and dressed	N
And none but a virgin may enter there	C
And clad is each in a scarlet vest	N
And a fawn skin frock to the brown calves bare	C
Wild rose buds peep from their flowing hair	C
And a rose half blown on the budding breast	N
And bright with the quills of the porcupine	M
The moccasined feet of the maidens shine	M
	-
Hand in hand round the feast they dance	O
And sing to the notes of a rude bassoon	P
And never a pause or a dissonance	Q
In the merry dance or the merry tune	P
Brown bosomed and fair as the rising moon	P
When she peeps o'er the hills of the dewy east	F
Wiwaste sings at the Virgins' Feast	F
And bright is the light in her luminous eyes	R
They glow like the stars in the winter skies	R
And the lilies that bloom in her virgin heart	S
Their golden blush to her cheeks impart	S
Her cheeks half hid in her midnight hair	C
Fair is her form as the red fawn's fair	C
And long is the flow of her raven hair	C
It falls to her knees and it streams on the breeze	T
Like the path of a storm on the swelling seas	T
	-
Proud of their rites are the Virgins fair	C
For none but a virgin may enter there	C
'Tis a custom of old and a sacred thing	D
Nor rank nor beauty the warriors spare	C
If a tarnished maiden should enter there	C
And her that enters the Sacred Ring	D
With a blot that is known or a secret stain	U
The warrior who knows is bound to expose	V
And lead her forth from the ring again	W
And the word of a brave is the fiat of law	J
For the Virgins' Feast is a sacred thing	D
Aside with the mothers sat Harpstina	W
She durst not enter the Virgins' ring	D
	-
Round and round to the merry song	X
The maidens dance in their gay attire	B
While the loud Ho Ho's of the tawny throng	X
Their flying feet and their song inspire	Y
They have finished the song and the sacred dance	O
And hand in hand to the feast advance	O
To the polished bowls of the golden maize	H
And the sweet fawn meat in the polished trays	H
	-
Then up from his seat in the silent crowd	Z
Rose the frowning fierce eyed tall Red Cloud	Z
Swift was his stride as the panther's spring	D
When he leaps on the fawn from his cavern lair	C
Wiwaste he caught by her flowing hair	C
And dragged her forth from the Sacred Ring	D
She turned on the warrior her eyes flashed fire	B
Her proud lips quivered with queenly ire	Y
And her sun browned cheeks were aflame with red	A2
Her hand to the spirits she raised and said	A2
I am pure I am pure as the falling snow	W
Great Taku skan skan will testify	B2
And dares the tall coward to say me no	W
But the sullen warrior made no reply	B2
She turned to the chief with her frantic cries	R
Wakawa my Father he lies he lies	R
Wiwaste is pure as the fawn unborn	W
Lead me back to the feast or Wiwaste dies	R
But the warriors uttered a cry of scorn	W
And he turned his face from her pleading eyes	R
	-
Then the sullen warrior the tall Red Cloud	Z
Looked up and spoke and his voice was loud	Z
But he held his wrath and he spoke with care	C
Wiwaste is young she is proud and fair	C
But she may not boast of the virgin snows	V
The Virgins' Feast is a sacred thing	D
How durst she enter the Virgins' ring	D
The warrior would fain but he dares not spare	C
She is tarnished and only the Red Cloud knows	V
	-
She clutched her hair in her clinched hand	C2
She stood like a statue bronzed and grand	C2
Wakan dee flashed in her fiery eyes	R
Then swift as the meteor cleaves the skies	R
Nay swift as the fiery Wakinyan's dart	S
She snatched the knife from the warrior's belt	D2
And plunged it clean to the polished hilt	E2
With a deadly cry in the villain's heart	S
Staggering he clutched the air and fell	J
His life blood smoked on the trampled sand	C2
And dripped from the knife in the virgin's hand	C2
	-
Then rose his kinsmen's savage yell	J
Swift as the doe's Wiwaste's feet	F2
Fled away to the forest The hunters fleet	F2
In vain pursue and in vain they prowl	J
And lurk in the forest till dawn of day	G2
They hear the hoot of the mottled owl	J
They hear the were wolf's winding howl	J
But the swift Wiwaste is far away	G2
They found no trace in the forest land	C2
They found no trail in the dew damp grass	H2
They found no track in the river sand	C2
Where they thought Wiwaste would surely pass	H2
	-
The braves returned to the troubled chief	I2
In his lodge he sat in his silent grief	I2
Surely they said she has turned a spirit	J2
No trail she left with her flying feet	F2
No pathway leads to her far retreat	F2
She flew in the air and her wail we could hear it	K
As she upward rose to the shining stars	K2
And we heard on the river as we stood near it	K
The falling drops of Wiwaste's tears	L2
	-
Wakawa thought of his daughter's words	M2
Ere the south wind came and the piping birds	M2
My Father listen my words are true	N2
And sad was her voice as the whippowil	J
When she mourns her mate by the moon lit rill	J
Wiwaste lingers alone with you	N2
The rest are sleeping on yonder hill	J
Save one and he an undutiful son	W
And you my Father will sit alone	W
When Sisoka sings and the snow is gone	W
His broad breast heaved on his troubled soul	J
The shadow of grief o'er his visage stole	J
Like a cloud on the face of the setting sun	W
	-
She has followed the years that are gone he said	A2
The spirits the words of the witch fulfill	J
For I saw the ghost of my father dead	A2
By the moon's dim light on the misty hill	J
He shook the plumes on his withered head	A2
And the wind through his pale form whistled shrill	J
And a low sad voice on the hill I heard	O2
Like the mournful wail of a widowed bird	O2
Then lo as he looked from his lodge afar	P2
He saw the glow of the Evening star	P2
And yonder he said is Wiwaste's face	Q2
She looks from her lodge on our fading race	Q2
Devoured by famine and fraud and war	R2
And chased and hounded by fate and woe	W
As the white wolves follow the buffalo	W
And he named the planet the Virgin Star	P2
	-
Wakawa he muttered the guilt is thine	W
She was pure she was pure as the fawn unborn	W
O why did I hark to the cry of scorn	W
Or the words of the lying libertine	W
Wakawa Wakawa the guilt is thine	W
The springs will return with the voice of birds	M2
But the voice of my daughter will come no more	R2
She wakened the woods with her musical words	M2
And the sky lark ashamed of his voice forbore	R2
She called back the years that had passed and long	X
I heard their voice in her happy song	X
O why did the chief of the tall Hohe	S2
His feet from Kapoza so long delay	J
For his father sat at my father's feast	F
And he at Wakawa's an honored guest	N
He is dead he is slain on the Bloody Plain	W
By the hand of the treacherous Chippeway	W
And the face shall I never behold again	W
Of my brave young brother the chief Chaske	X
Death walks like a shadow among my kin	W
And swift are the feet of the flying years	T2
That cover Wakawa with frost and tears	L2
And leave their tracks on his wrinkled skin	W
Wakawa the voice of the years that are gone	W
Will follow thy feet like the shadow of death	U2
Till the paths of the forest and desert lone	W
Shall forget thy footsteps O living breath	U2
Whence are thou and whither so soon to fly	J
And whence are the years Shall I overtake	X
Their flying feet in the star lit sky	J
From his last long sleep will the warrior wake	X
Will the morning break in Wakawa's tomb	V2
As it breaks and glows in the eastern skies	R
Is it true will the spirits of kinsmen come	W2
And bid the bones of the brave arise	R
Wakawa Wakawa for thee the years	T2
Are red with blood and bitter with tears	L2
Gone brothers and daughters and wife all gone	W
That are kin to Wakawa but one but one	W
Wakinyan Tanka undutiful son	W
And he estranged from his father's tee	X2
Will never return till the chief shall die	J
And what cares he for his father's grief	I2
He will smile at my death it will make him chief	I2
Woe burns in my bosom Ho warriors Ho	S2
Raise the song of red war for your chief must go	S2
To drown his grief in the blood of the foe	S2
I shall fall Raise my mound on the sacred hill	J
Let my warriors the wish of their chief fulfill	J
For my fathers sleep in the sacred ground	Y2
The Autumn blasts o'er Wakawa's mound	Y2
Will chase the hair of the thistles' head	A2
And the bare armed oak o'er the silent dead	A2
When the whirling snows from the north descend	Z2
Will wail and moan in the midnight wind	A3
In the famine of winter the wolf will prowl	J
And scratch the snow from the heap of stones	B3
And sit in the gathering storm and howl	J
On the frozen mound for Wakawa's bones	B3
But the years that are gone shall return again	W
As the robin returns and the whippowil	J
When my warriors stand on the sacred hill	J
And remember the deeds of their brave chief slain	W
	-
Beneath the glow of the Virgin Star	R2
They raised the song of the red war dance	O
At the break of dawn with the bow and lance	O
They followed the chief on the path of war	R2
To the north to the forests of fir and pine	W
Led their stealthy steps on the winding trail	J
Till they saw the Lake of the Spirit shine	W
Through somber pines of the dusky dale	J
Then they heard the hoot of the mottled owl	J
They heard the gray wolf's dismal howl	J
Then shrill and sudden the war whoop rose	V
From an hundred throats of their swarthy foes	V
In ambush crouched in the tangled wood	C3
Death shrieked in the twang of their deadly bows	D3
And their hissing arrows drank brave men's blood	E
From rock and thicket and brush and brakes	E3
Gleamed the burning eyes of the forest snakes	E3
From brake and thicket and brush and stone	W
The bow string hummed and the arrow hissed	F3
And the lance of a crouching Ojibway shone	W
Or the scalp knife gleamed in a swarthy fist	F3
Undaunted the braves of Wakawa's band	C2
Leaped into the thicket with lance and knife	G3
And grappled the Chippeways hand to hand	C2
And foe with foe in the deadly strife	G3
Lay clutching the scalp of his foe and dead	A2
With a tomahawk sunk in his ghastly head	A2
Or his still heart sheathing a bloody blade	H3
Like a bear in the battle Wakawa raves	I3
And cheers the hearts of his falling braves	I3
But a panther crouches along his track	X
He springs with a yell on Wakawa's back	X
The tall chief stabbed to the heart lies low	J
But his left hand clutches his deadly foe	J
And his red right clinches the bloody hilt	E2
Of his knife in the heart of the slayer dyed	I
And thus was the life of Wakawa spilt	E2
And slain and slayer lay side by side	I
The unscalped corpse of their honored chief	I2
His warriors snatched from the yelling pack	X
And homeward fled on their forest track	X
With their bloody burden and load of grief	I2
	-
The spirits the words of the brave fulfill	J
Wakawa sleeps on the sacred hill	J
And Wakinyan Tanka his son is chief	I2
Ah soon shall the lips of men forget	L
Wakawa's name and the mound of stone	W
Will speak of the dead to the winds alone	W
And the winds will whistle their mock regret	L
	-
The speckled cones of the scarlet berries	T
Lie red and ripe in the prairie grass	H2
The Si yo clucks on the emerald prairies	T
To her infant brood From the wild morass	H2
On the sapphire lakelet set within it	K
Maga sails forth with her wee ones daily	J
They ride on the dimpling waters gaily	J
Like a fleet of yachts and a man of war	R2
The piping plover the light winged linnet	K
And the swallow sail in the sunset skies	R
The whippowil from her cover hies	R
And trills her song on the amber air	R2
Anon to her loitering mate she cries	R
Flip O Will trip O Will skip O Will	J
And her merry mate from afar replies	R
Flip I will skip I will trip I will	J
And away on the wings of the wind he flies	R
And bright from her lodge in the skies afar	R2
Peeps the glowing face of the Virgin Star	R2
The fox pups creep from their mother's lair	R2
And leap in the light of the rising moon	W
And loud on the luminous moonlit lake	X
Shrill the bugle notes of the lover loon	W
And woods and waters and welkin break	X
Into jubilant song it is joyful June	W
	-
But where is Wiwaste O where is she	J
The virgin avenged the queenly queen	W
The womanly woman the heroine	W
Has she gone to the spirits and can it be	J
That her beautiful face is the Virgin Star	R2
Peeping out from the door of her lodge afar	R2
Or upward sailing the silver sea	J
Star beaconed and lit like an avenue	N2
In the shining stern of her gold canoe	N2
No tidings came nor the brave Chaske	X
O why did the lover so long delay	J
He promised to come with the robins in May	J
With the bridal gifts for the bridal day	J
But the fair May mornings have slipped away	J
And where is the lover the brave Chaske	X
	-
But what of the venomous Harpstina	N2
The serpent that tempted the proud Red Cloud	Z
And kindled revenge in his savage soul	J
He paid for his crime with his own heart's blood	E
But his angry spirit has brought her dole	J
It has entered her breast and her burning head	A2
And she raves and burns on her fevered bed	A2
He is dead He is dead is her wailing cry	J
And the blame is mine it was I it was I	J
I hated Wiwaste for she was fair	R2
And my brave was caught in her net of hair	R2
I turned his love to a bitter hate	J3
I nourished revenge and I pricked his pride	I
Till the Feast of the Virgins I bade him wait	J3
He had his revenge but he died he died	I
And the blame is mine it was I it was I	J
And his spirit burns me I die I die	J
Thus alone in her lodge and her agonies	R
She wails to the winds of the night and dies	R
	-
But where is Wiwaste Her swift feet flew	N2
To the somber shades of the tangled thicket	K
She hid in the copse like a wary cricket	J2
And the fleetest hunters in vain pursue	N2
Seeing unseen from her hiding place	R
She sees them fly on the hurried chase	R
She sees their dark eyes glance and dart	S
As they pass and peer for a track or trace	R
And she trembles with fear in the copse apart	S
Lest her nest be betrayed by her throbbing heart	S
	-
Weary the hours but the sun at last	K3
Went down to his lodge in the west and fast	K3
The wings of the spirits of night were spread	A2
O'er the darkling woods and Wiwaste's head	A2
Then slyly she slipped from her snug retreat	F2
And guiding her course by Waziya's star	R2
That shone through the shadowy forms afar	R2
She northward hurried with silent feet	F2
And long ere the sky was aflame in the east	F
She was leagues from the spot of the fatal feast	F
'Twas the hoot of the owl that the hunters heard	O2
And the scattering drops of the threat'ning shower	R2
And the far wolf's cry to the moon preferred	O2
Their ears were their fancies the scene was weird	L3
And the witches dance at the midnight hour	R2
She leaped the brook and she swam the river	R2
Her course through the forest Wiwaste wist	F3
By the star that gleamed through the glimmering mist	F3
That fell from the dim moon's downy quiver	R2
In her heart she spoke to her spirit mother	R2
Look down from your teepee O starry spirit	J2
The cry of Wiwaste O mother hear it	K
And touch the heart of my cruel father	R2
He hearkened not to a virgin's words	R
He listened not to a daughter's wail	J
O give me the wings of the thunder birds	R
For his were wolves follow Wiwaste's trail	J
And guide my flight to the far Hohe	S2
To the sheltering lodge of my brave Chaske	X
	-
The shadows paled in the hazy east	F
And the light of the kindling morn increased	F
The pale faced stars fled one by one	N2
And hid in the vast from the rising sun	N2
From woods and waters and welkin soon	N2
Fled the hovering mists of the vanished moon	N2
The young robins chirped in their feathery beds	R
The loon's song shrilled like a winding horn	N2
And the green hills lifted their dewy heads	R
To greet the god of the rising morn	N2
She reached the rim of the rolling prairie	J
The boundless ocean of solitude	M3
She hid in the feathery hazel wood	C3
For her heart was sick and her feet were weary	J
She fain would rest and she needed food	M3
Alone by the billowy boundless prairies	R
She plucked the cones of the scarlet berries	R
In feathering copse and the grassy field	N3
She found the bulbs of the young Tipsanna	N2
And the sweet medo that the meadows yield	N3
With the precious gift of his priceless manna	N2
God fed his fainting and famished child	O3
	-
At night again to the northward far	R2
She followed the torch of Waziya's star	R2
For leagues away o'er the prairies green	N2
On the billowy vast may a man be seen	N2
When the sun is high and the stars are low	J
And the sable breast of the strutting crow	J
Looms up like the form of the buffalo	J
The Bloody River she reached at last	K3
And boldly walked in the light of day	J
On the level plain of the valley vast	K3
Nor thought of the terrible Chippeway	J
She was safe from the wolves of her father's band	C2
But she trod on the treacherous Bloody Land	C2
	-
And lo from afar o'er the level plain	N2
As far as the sails of a ship at sea	J
May be seen as they lift from the rolling main	N2
A band of warriors rode rapidly	J
She shadowed her eyes with her sun browned hand	C2
All backward streamed on the wind her hair	R2
And terror spread o'er her visage fair	R2
As she bent her brow to the far off band	C2
For she thought of the terrible Chippeway	J
The fiends that the babe and the mother slay	J
And yonder they came in their war array	J
	-
She hid like a grouse in the meadow grass	R
And moaned I am lost I am lost alas	R
And why did I fly from my native land	C2
To die by the cruel Ojibway's hand	C2
And on rode the braves She could hear the steeds	R
Come galloping on o'er the level meads	R
And lowly she crouched in the waving grass	R
And hoped against hope that the braves would pass	R
	-
They have passed she is safe she is safe	P3
Ah no They have struck her trail and the hunters halt	Q3
Like wolves on the track of the bleeding doe	J
That grappled breaks from the dread assault	Q3
Dash the warriors wild on Wiwaste's trail	J
She flies but what can her flight avail	J
Her feet are fleet but the flying feet	F2
Of the steeds of the prairies are fleeter still	J
And where can she fly for a safe retreat	F2
	-
But hark to the shouting Iho Iho	S2
Rings over the wide plain sharp and shrill	J
She halts and the hunters come riding on	N2
But the horrible fear from her heart is gone	N2
For it is not the shout of the dreaded foe	J
'Tis the welcome shout of her native land	C2
	-
Up galloped the chief of the band and lo	J
The clutched knife dropped from her trembling hand	C2
She uttered a cry and she swooned away	J
For there on his steed in the blaze of day	J
On the boundless prairie so far away	J
With his polished bow and his feathers gay	J
Sat the manly form of her own Chaske	J
	-
There's a mote in my eye or a blot on the page	R3
And I cannot tell of the joyful greeting	J
You may take it for granted and I will engage	R3
There were kisses and tears at the strange glad meeting	J
For aye since the birth of the swift winged years	R
In the desert drear in the field of clover	R2
In the cot in the palace and all the world over	R2
Yea away on the stars to the ultimate spheres	R
The greeting of love to the long sought lover	R2
Is tears and kisses and kisses and tears	R
	-
But why did the lover so long delay	J
And whitherward rideth the chief to day	J
As he followed the trail of the buffalo	J
From the tees of Kapoza a maiden lo	J
Came running in haste o'er the drifted snow	J
She spoke to the chief of the tall Hohe	S2
Wiwaste requests that the brave Chaske	J
Will abide with his band and his coming delay	J
Till the moon when the strawberries are ripe and red	A2
And then will the chief and Wiwaste wed	A2
When the Feast of the Virgins is past she said	A2
Wiwaste's wish was her lover's law	J
And so his coming the chief delayed	H3
Till the mid May blossoms should bloom and fade	H3
But the lying runner was Harpstina	J
	-
And now with the gifts for the bridal day	J
And his chosen warriors he took his way	J
And followed his heart to his moon faced maid	H3
And thus was the lover so long delayed	H3
And so as he rode with his warriors gay	J
On that bright and beautiful summer day	J
His bride he met on the trail mid way	J
	-
God arms the innocent He is there	R2
In the desert vast in the wilderness	R
On the bellowing sea in the lion's lair	R2
In the mist of battle and everywhere	R2
In his hand he holds with a father's care	R2
The tender hearts of the motherless	R
The maid and the mother in sore distress	R
He shields with his love and his tenderness	R
He comforts the widowed the comfortless	R
And sweetens her chalice of bitterness	R
He clothes the naked the numberless	R
His charity covers their nakedness	R
And he feeds the famished and fatherless	R
With the hand that feedeth the birds of air	R2
Let the myriad tongues of the earth confess	R
His infinite love and his holiness	R
For his pity pities the pitiless	R
His mercy flows to the merciless	R
And the countless worlds in the realms above	S3
Revolve in the light of his boundless love	S3
	-
And what of the lovers you ask I trow	J
She told him all ere the sun was low	J
Why she fled from the Feast to a safe retreat	F2
She laid her heart at her lover's feet	F2
And her words were tears and her lips were slow	J
As she sadly related the bitter tale	J
His face was aflame and anon grew pale	J
And his dark eyes flashed with a brave desire	R2
Like the midnight gleam of the sacred fire	R2
Mitawin he said and his voice was low	J
Thy father no more is the false Little Crow	J
But the fairest plume shall Wiwaste wear	R2
Of the great Wanmdee in her midnight hair	R2
In my lodge in the land of the tall Hohe	S2
The robins will sing all the long summer day	J
To the happy bride of the brave Chaske '	-
	-
Aye love is tested by stress and trial	J
Since the finger of time on the endless dial	J
Began its rounds and the orbs to move	T3
In the boundless vast and the sunbeams clove	T3
The chaos but only by fate's denial	J
Are fathomed the fathomless depths of love	T3
Man is the rugged and wrinkled oak	J
And woman the trusting and tender vine	J
That clasps and climbs till its arms entwine	J
The brawny arms of the sturdy stock	J
The dimpled babes are the flowers divine	J
That the blessing of God on the vine and oak	J
With their cooing and blossoming lips invoke	J
	-
To the pleasant land of the brave Hohe	S2
Wiwaste rode with her proud Chaske	J
She ruled like a queen in his bountiful tee	J
And the life of the twain was a jubilee	J
Their wee ones climbed on the father's knee	J
And played with his plumes of the great Wanmdee	J
The silken threads of the happy years	R
They wove into beautiful robes of love	T3
That the spirits wear in the lodge above	T3
And time from the reel of the rolling spheres	R
His silver threads with the raven wove	T3
But never the stain of a mother's tears	R
Soiled the shining web of their happy years	R
When the wrinkled mask of the years they wore	R2
And the raven hair of their youth was gray	J
Their love grew deeper and more and more	R2
For he was a lover for aye and aye	J
And ever her beautiful brave Chaske	J
Through the wrinkled mask of the hoary years	R
To the loving eyes of the lover aye	J
The blossom of beautiful youth appears	R
	-
At last when their locks were as white as snow	J
Beloved and honored by all the band	J
They silently slipped from their lodge below	J
And walked together and hand in hand	J
O'er the Shining Path to the Spirit land	J
Where the hills and the meadows for aye and aye	J
Are clad with the verdure and flowers of May	J
And the unsown prairies of Paradise	R
Yield the golden maize and the sweet wild rice	R
There ever ripe in the groves and prairies	R
Hang the purple plums and the luscious berries	R
And the swarthy herds of the bison feed	J
On the sun lit slope and the waving mead	J
The dappled fawns from their coverts peep	U3
And countless flocks on the waters sleep	U3
And the silent years with their fingers trace	R
No furrows for aye on the hunter's face	R

Hanford Lennox Gordon

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