Blessing The Cornfields Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDECFGCECCHIIEDCIJ HECKLDEEMENODPICNEQC RSCECTTCKOCKUDCNTQDK KEIECCCCCEIIEEEOMCCE CIKOOCDCKCCEIDKIOCCC CCEEVOCOCOEDICCCEEWC CKCCCICECEEHXNOOEKNO INCCCCCCICNDYZA2ZKCB 2C2TDIA2EZICEDCD2IIO IE2JA2IEKA2OKOECE2IZ ONCCIOCCE2CIEA2A2CCC EA2CIOOOCEA2A2EICCDI CIESing O Song of Hiawatha | A |
Of the happy days that followed | B |
In the land of the Ojibways | C |
In the pleasant land and peaceful | D |
Sing the mysteries of Mondamin | E |
Sing the Blessing of the Cornfields | C |
Buried was the bloody hatchet | F |
Buried was the dreadful war club | G |
Buried were all warlike weapons | C |
And the war cry was forgotten | E |
There was peace among the nations | C |
Unmolested roved the hunters | C |
Built the birch canoe for sailing | H |
Caught the fish in lake and river | I |
Shot the deer and trapped the beaver | I |
Unmolested worked the women | E |
Made their sugar from the maple | D |
Gathered wild rice in the meadows | C |
Dressed the skins of deer and beaver | I |
All around the happy village | J |
Stood the maize fields green and shining | H |
Waved the green plumes of Mondamin | E |
Waved his soft and sunny tresses | C |
Filling all the land with plenty | K |
T was the women who in Spring time | L |
Planted the broad fields and fruitful | D |
Buried in the earth Mondamin | E |
T was the women who in Autumn | E |
Stripped the yellow husks of harvest | M |
Stripped the garments from Mondamin | E |
Even as Hiawatha taught them | N |
Once when all the maize was planted | O |
Hiawatha wise and thoughtful | D |
Spake and said to Minnehaha | P |
To his wife the Laughing Water | I |
You shall bless to night the cornfields | C |
Draw a magic circle round them | N |
To protect them from destruction | E |
Blast of mildew blight of insect | Q |
Wagemin the thief of cornfields | C |
Paimosaid who steals the maize ear | R |
In the night when all Is silence ' | S |
In the night when all Is darkness | C |
When the Spirit of Sleep Nepahwin | E |
Shuts the doors of all the wigwams | C |
So that not an ear can hear you | T |
So that not an eye can see you | T |
Rise up from your bed in silence | C |
Lay aside your garments wholly | K |
Walk around the fields you planted | O |
Round the borders of the cornfields | C |
Covered by your tresses only | K |
Robed with darkness as a garment | U |
Thus the fields shall be more fruitful | D |
And the passing of your footsteps | C |
Draw a magic circle round them | N |
So that neither blight nor mildew | T |
Neither burrowing worm nor insect | Q |
Shall pass o'er the magic circle | D |
Not the dragon fly Kwo ne she | K |
Nor the spider Subbekashe | K |
Nor the grasshopper Pah puk keena | E |
Nor the mighty caterpillar | I |
Way muk kwana with the bear skin | E |
King of all the caterpillars | C |
On the tree tops near the cornfields | C |
Sat the hungry crows and ravens | C |
Kahgahgee the King of Ravens | C |
With his band of black marauders | C |
And they laughed at Hiawatha | E |
Till the tree tops shook with laughter | I |
With their melancholy laughter | I |
At the words of Hiawatha | E |
Hear him said they hear the Wise Man | E |
Hear the plots of Hiawatha | E |
When the noiseless night descended | O |
Broad and dark o'er field and forest | M |
When the mournful Wawonaissa | C |
Sorrowing sang among the hemlocks | C |
And the Spirit of Sleep Nepahwin | E |
Shut the doors of all the wigwams | C |
From her bed rose Laughing Water | I |
Laid aside her garments wholly | K |
And with darkness clothed and guarded | O |
Unashamed and unaffrighted | O |
Walked securely round the cornfields | C |
Drew the sacred magic circle | D |
Of her footprints round the cornfields | C |
No one but the Midnight only | K |
Saw her beauty in the darkness | C |
No one but the Wawonaissa | C |
Heard the panting of her bosom | E |
Guskewau the darkness wrapped her | I |
Closely in his sacred mantle | D |
So that none might see her beauty | K |
So that none might boast I saw her | I |
On the morrow as the day dawned | O |
Kahgahgee the King of Ravens | C |
Gathered all his black marauders | C |
Crows and blackbirds jays and ravens | C |
Clamorous on the dusky tree tops | C |
And descended fast and fearless | C |
On the fields of Hiawatha | E |
On the grave of the Mondamin | E |
We will drag Mondamin said they | V |
From the grave where he is buried | O |
Spite of all the magic circles | C |
Laughing Water draws around it | O |
Spite of all the sacred footprints | C |
Minnehaha stamps upon it | O |
But the wary Hiawatha | E |
Ever thoughtful careful watchful | D |
Had o'erheard the scornful laughter | I |
When they mocked him from the tree tops | C |
Kaw he said my friends the ravens | C |
Kahgahgee my King of Ravens | C |
I will teach you all a lesson | E |
That shall not be soon forgotten | E |
He had risen before the daybreak | W |
He had spread o'er all the cornfields | C |
Snares to catch the black marauders | C |
And was lying now in ambush | K |
In the neighboring grove of pine trees | C |
Waiting for the crows and blackbirds | C |
Waiting for the jays and ravens | C |
Soon they came with caw and clamor | I |
Rush of wings and cry of voices | C |
To their work of devastation | E |
Settling down upon the cornfields | C |
Delving deep with beak and talon | E |
For the body of Mondamin | E |
And with all their craft and cunning | H |
All their skill in wiles of warfare | X |
They perceived no danger near them | N |
Till their claws became entangled | O |
Till they found themselves imprisoned | O |
In the snares of Hiawatha | E |
From his place of ambush came he | K |
Striding terrible among them | N |
And so awful was his aspect | O |
That the bravest quailed with terror | I |
Without mercy he destroyed them | N |
Right and left by tens and twenties | C |
And their wretched lifeless bodies | C |
Hung aloft on poles for scarecrows | C |
Round the consecrated cornfields | C |
As a signal of his vengeance | C |
As a warning to marauders | C |
Only Kahgahgee the leader | I |
Kahgahgee the King of Ravens | C |
He alone was spared among them | N |
As a hostage for his people | D |
With his prisoner string he bound him | Y |
Led him captive to his wigwam | Z |
Tied him fast with cords of elm bark | A2 |
To the ridge pole of his wigwam | Z |
Kahgahgee my raven said he | K |
You the leader of the robbers | C |
You the plotter of this mischief | B2 |
The contriver of this outrage | C2 |
I will keep you I will hold you | T |
As a hostage for your people | D |
As a pledge of good behavior | I |
And he left him grim and sulky | A2 |
Sitting in the morning sunshine | E |
On the summit of the wigwam | Z |
Croaking fiercely his displeasure | I |
Flapping his great sable pinions | C |
Vainly struggling for his freedom | E |
Vainly calling on his people | D |
Summer passed and Shawondasee | C |
Breathed his sighs o'er all the landscape | D2 |
From the South land sent his ardor | I |
Wafted kisses warm and tender | I |
And the maize field grew and ripened | O |
Till it stood in all the splendor | I |
Of its garments green and yellow | E2 |
Of its tassels and its plumage | J |
And the maize ears full and shining | A2 |
Gleamed from bursting sheaths of verdure | I |
Then Nokomis the old woman | E |
Spake and said to Minnehaha | K |
T is the Moon when leaves are falling | A2 |
All the wild rice has been gathered | O |
And the maize is ripe and ready | K |
Let us gather in the harvest | O |
Let us wrestle with Mondamin | E |
Strip him of his plumes and tassels | C |
Of his garments green and yellow | E2 |
And the merry Laughing Water | I |
Went rejoicing from the wigwam | Z |
With Nokomis old and wrinkled | O |
And they called the women round them | N |
Called the young men and the maidens | C |
To the harvest of the cornfields | C |
To the husking of the maize ear | I |
On the border of the forest | O |
Underneath the fragrant pine trees | C |
Sat the old men and the warriors | C |
Smoking in the pleasant shadow | E2 |
In uninterrupted silence | C |
Looked they at the gamesome labor | I |
Of the young men and the women | E |
Listened to their noisy talking | A2 |
To their laughter and their singing | A2 |
Heard them chattering like the magpies | C |
Heard them laughing like the blue jays | C |
Heard them singing like the robins | C |
And whene'er some lucky maiden | E |
Found a red ear in the husking | A2 |
Found a maize ear red as blood is | C |
Nushka cried they all together | I |
Nushka you shall have a sweetheart | O |
You shall have a handsome husband | O |
Ugh the old men all responded | O |
From their seats beneath the pine trees | C |
And whene'er a youth or maiden | E |
Found a crooked ear in husking | A2 |
Found a maize ear in the husking | A2 |
Blighted mildewed or misshapen | E |
Then they laughed and sang together | I |
Crept and limped about the cornfields | C |
Mimicked in their gait and gestures | C |
Some old man bent almost double | D |
Singing singly or together | I |
Wagemin the thief of cornfields | C |
Paimosaid who steals the maize ear | I |
Till the corn | E |
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(1)
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