Hiawatha's Wooing Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJEHKHGLMENH HGHGEGHBBIHEHFHEEBOH GKHEHHHBBFEGGBEFHBGH HPGCHIEJHGQHBIFGGGRE IOEHEQQJEHEESHBGGTHH HHEBHEQUVHOTGCUHJKQW HGHHXEEGTCUEBHCHGFOG HHQEHTEJGXGHGIGGGGFH GHBGGHKSGHHFGEGGBEBE GHGEGHJESGFCGGIEEHGE EGGOJHYJEETIHHHXHEZB EEGHBGFGGGAs unto the bow the cord is | A |
So unto the man is woman | B |
Though she bends him she obeys him | C |
Though she draws him yet she follows | D |
Useless each without the other | E |
Thus the youthful Hiawatha | F |
Said within himself and pondered | G |
Much perplexed by various feelings | H |
Listless longing hoping fearing | I |
Dreaming still of Minnehaha | J |
Of the lovely Laughing Water | E |
In the land of the Dacotahs | H |
Wed a maiden of your people | K |
Warning said the old Nokomis | H |
Go not eastward go not westward | G |
For a stranger whom we know not | L |
Like a fire upon the hearth stone | M |
Is a neighbor's homely daughter | E |
Like the starlight or the moonlight | N |
Is the handsomest of strangers | H |
Thus dissuading spake Nokomis | H |
And my Hiawatha answered | G |
Only this Dear old Nokomis | H |
Very pleasant is the firelight | G |
But I like the starlight better | E |
Better do I like the moonlight | G |
Gravely then said old Nokomis | H |
Bring not here an idle maiden | B |
Bring not here a useless woman | B |
Hands unskilful feet unwilling | I |
Bring a wife with nimble fingers | H |
Heart and hand that move together | E |
Feet that run on willing errands | H |
Smiling answered Hiawatha | F |
'In the land of the Dacotahs | H |
Lives the Arrow maker's daughter | E |
Minnehaha Laughing Water | E |
Handsomest of all the women | B |
I will bring her to your wigwam | O |
She shall run upon your errands | H |
Be your starlight moonlight firelight | G |
Be the sunlight of my people | K |
Still dissuading said Nokomis | H |
Bring not to my lodge a stranger | E |
From the land of the Dacotahs | H |
Very fierce are the Dacotahs | H |
Often is there war between us | H |
There are feuds yet unforgotten | B |
Wounds that ache and still may open | B |
Laughing answered Hiawatha | F |
For that reason if no other | E |
Would I wed the fair Dacotah | G |
That our tribes might be united | G |
That old feuds might be forgotten | B |
And old wounds be healed forever | E |
Thus departed Hiawatha | F |
To the land of the Dacotahs | H |
To the land of handsome women | B |
Striding over moor and meadow | G |
Through interminable forests | H |
Through uninterrupted silence | H |
With his moccasins of magic | P |
At each stride a mile he measured | G |
Yet the way seemed long before him | C |
And his heart outran his footsteps | H |
And he journeyed without resting | I |
Till he heard the cataract's laughter | E |
Heard the Falls of Minnehaha | J |
Calling to him through the silence | H |
Pleasant is the sound he murmured | G |
Pleasant is the voice that calls me | Q |
On the outskirts of the forests | H |
'Twixt the shadow and the sunshine | B |
Herds of fallow deer were feeding | I |
But they saw not Hiawatha | F |
To his bow he whispered Fail not | G |
To his arrow whispered Swerve not | G |
Sent it singing on its errand | G |
To the red heart of the roebuck | R |
Threw the deer across his shoulder | E |
And sped forward without pausing | I |
At the doorway of his wigwam | O |
Sat the ancient Arrow maker | E |
In the land of the Dacotahs | H |
Making arrow heads of jasper | E |
Arrow heads of chalcedony | Q |
At his side in all her beauty | Q |
Sat the lovely Minnehaha | J |
Sat his daughter Laughing Water | E |
Plaiting mats of flags and rushes | H |
Of the past the old man's thoughts were | E |
And the maiden's of the future | E |
He was thinking as he sat there | S |
Of the days when with such arrows | H |
He had struck the deer and bison | B |
On the Muskoday the meadow | G |
Shot the wild goose flying southward | G |
On the wing the clamorous Wawa | T |
Thinking of the great war parties | H |
How they came to buy his arrows | H |
Could not fight without his arrows | H |
Ah no more such noble warriors | H |
Could be found on earth as they were | E |
Now the men were all like women | B |
Only used their tongues for weapons | H |
She was thinking of a hunter | E |
From another tribe and country | Q |
Young and tall and very handsome | U |
Who one morning in the Spring time | V |
Came to buy her father's arrows | H |
Sat and rested in the wigwam | O |
Lingered long about the doorway | T |
Looking back as he departed | G |
She had heard her father praise him | C |
Praise his courage and his wisdom | U |
Would he come again for arrows | H |
To the Falls of Minnehaha | J |
On the mat her hands lay idle | K |
And her eyes were very dreamy | Q |
Through their thoughts they heard a footstep | W |
Heard a rustling in the branches | H |
And with glowing cheek and forehead | G |
With the deer upon his shoulders | H |
Suddenly from out the woodlands | H |
Hiawatha stood before them | X |
Straight the ancient Arrow maker | E |
Looked up gravely from his labor | E |
Laid aside the unfinished arrow | G |
Bade him enter at the doorway | T |
Saying as he rose to meet him | C |
'Hiawatha you are welcome | U |
At the feet of Laughing Water | E |
Hiawatha laid his burden | B |
Threw the red deer from his shoulders | H |
And the maiden looked up at him | C |
Looked up from her mat of rushes | H |
Said with gentle look and accent | G |
You are welcome Hiawatha | F |
Very spacious was the wigwam | O |
Made of deer skins dressed and whitened | G |
With the Gods of the Dacotahs | H |
Drawn and painted on its curtains | H |
And so tall the doorway hardly | Q |
Hiawatha stooped to enter | E |
Hardly touched his eagle feathers | H |
As he entered at the doorway | T |
Then uprose the Laughing Water | E |
From the ground fair Minnehaha | J |
Laid aside her mat unfinished | G |
Brought forth food and set before them | X |
Water brought them from the brooklet | G |
Gave them food in earthen vessels | H |
Gave them drink in bowls of bass wood | G |
Listened while the guest was speaking | I |
Listened while her father answered | G |
But not once her lips she opened | G |
Not a single word she uttered | G |
Yes as in a dream she listened | G |
To the words of Hiawatha | F |
As he talked of old Nokomis | H |
Who had nursed him in his childhood | G |
As he told of his companions | H |
Chibiabos the musician | B |
And the very strong man Kwasind | G |
And of happiness and plenty | G |
In the land of the Ojibways | H |
In the pleasant land and peaceful | K |
After many years of warfare | S |
Many years of strife and bloodshed | G |
There is peace between the Ojibways | H |
And the tribe of the Dacotahs | H |
Thus continued Hiawatha | F |
And then added speaking slowly | G |
That this peace may last forever | E |
And our hands be clasped more closely | G |
And our hearts be more united | G |
Give me as my wife this maiden | B |
Minnehaha Laughing Water | E |
Loveliest of Dacotah women | B |
And the ancient Arrow maker | E |
Paused a moment ere he answered | G |
Smoked a little while in silence | H |
Looked at Hiawatha proudly | G |
Fondly looked at Laughing Water | E |
And made answer very gravely | G |
Yes if Minnehaha wishes | H |
Let your heart speak Minnehaha | J |
And the lovely Laughing Water | E |
Seemed more lovely as she stood there | S |
Neither willing nor reluctant | G |
As she went to Hiawatha | F |
Softly took the seat beside him | C |
While she said and blushed to say it | G |
I will follow you my husband | G |
This was Hiawatha's wooing | I |
Thus it was he won the daughter | E |
Of the ancient Arrow maker | E |
In the land of the Dacotahs | H |
From the wigwam he departed | G |
Leading with him Laughing Water | E |
Hand in hand they went together | E |
Through the woodland and the meadow | G |
Left the old man standing lonely | G |
At the doorway of his wigwam | O |
Heard the Falls of Minnehaha | J |
Calling to them from the distance | H |
Crying to them from afar off | Y |
Fare thee well O Minnehaha | J |
And the ancient Arrow maker | E |
Turned again unto his labor | E |
Sat down by his sunny doorway | T |
Murmuring to himself and saying | I |
Thus it is our daughters leave us | H |
Those we love and those who love us | H |
Just when they have learned to help us | H |
When we are old and lean upon them | X |
Comes a youth with flaunting feathers | H |
With his flute of reeds a stranger | E |
Wanders piping through the village | Z |
Beckons to the fairest maiden | B |
And she follows where he leads her | E |
Leaving all things for the stranger | E |
Pleasant was the journey homeward | G |
Through interminable forests | H |
Over meadow over mountain | B |
Over river hill and hollow | G |
Short it seemed to Hiawatha | F |
Though they journeyed very slowly | G |
Though his pace he checked and slackened | G |
To t | G |
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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