Hiawatha's Sailing Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABAACBDA ABCEB FGEACCAA HCIF GHGGDBGE BHGG BBIGF BCJB CGBBBG ICIKF IGBC GEBBG BIICF DBBB CCJBD CLIBIF GIKIJAIG GBGGCBBIBDB FGLLGB GGBI GBBBBBIIA FDIIGG MIBADAICD

Give me of your bark O Birch TreeA
Of your yellow bark O Birch TreeA
Growing by the rushing riverB
Tall and stately in the valleyA
I a light canoe will build meA
Build a swift Cheemaun for sailingC
That shall float upon the riverB
Like a yellow leaf in AutumnD
Like a yellow water lilyA
-
Lay aside your cloak O Birch TreeA
Lay aside your white skin wrapperB
For the Summer time is comingC
And the sun is warm in heavenE
And you need no white skin wrapperB
-
Thus aloud cried HiawathaF
In the solitary forestG
By the rushing TaquamenawE
When the birds were singing gaylyA
In the Moon of Leaves were singingC
And the sun from sleep awakingC
Started up and said Behold meA
Gheezis the great Sun behold meA
-
And the tree with all its branchesH
Rustled in the breeze of morningC
Saying with a sigh of patienceI
Take my cloak O HiawathaF
-
With his knife the tree he girdledG
Just beneath its lowest branchesH
Just above the roots he cut itG
Till the sap came oozing outwardG
Down the trunk from top to bottomD
Sheer he cleft the bark asunderB
With a wooden wedge he raised itG
Stripped it from the trunk unbrokenE
-
Give me of your boughs O CedarB
Of your strong and pliant branchesH
My canoe to make more steadyG
Make more strong and firm beneath meG
-
Through the summit of the CedarB
Went a sound a cry of horrorB
Went a murmur of resistanceI
But it whispered bending downwardG
Take my boughs O HiawathaF
-
Down he hewed the boughs of cedarB
Shaped them straightway to a frameworkC
Like two bows he formed and shaped themJ
Like two bended bows togetherB
-
Give me of your roots O TamarackC
Of your fibrous roots O Larch TreeG
My canoe to bind togetherB
So to bind the ends togetherB
That the water may not enterB
That the river may not wet meG
-
And the Larch with all its fibresI
Shivered in the air of morningC
Touched his forehead with its tasselsI
Said with one long sigh of sorrowK
Take them all O HiawathaF
-
From the earth he tore the fibresI
Tore the tough roots of the Larch TreeG
Closely sewed the bark togetherB
Bound it closely to the frameworkC
-
Give me of your balm O Fir TreeG
Of your balsam and your resinE
So to close the seams togetherB
That the water may not enterB
That the river may not wet meG
-
And the Fir Tree tall and sombreB
Sobbed through all its robes of darknessI
Rattled like a shore with pebblesI
Answered wailing answered weepingC
Take my balm O HiawathaF
-
And he took the tears of balsamD
Took the resin of the Fir TreeB
Smeared therewith each seam and fissureB
Made each crevice safe from waterB
-
Give me of your quills O HedgehogC
All your quills O Kagh the HedgehogC
I will make a necklace of themJ
Make a girdle for my beautyB
And two stars to deck her bosomD
-
From a hollow tree the HedgehogC
With his sleepy eyes looked at himL
Shot his shining quills like arrowsI
Saying with a drowsy murmurB
Through the tangle of his whiskersI
Take my quills O HiawathaF
-
From the ground the quills he gatheredG
All the little shining arrowsI
Stained them red and blue and yellowK
With the juice of roots and berriesI
Into his canoe he wrought themJ
Round its waist a shining girdleA
Round its bow a gleaming necklaceI
On its breast two stars resplendentG
-
Thus the Birch Canoe was buildedG
In the valley by the riverB
In the bosom of the forestG
And the forest's life was in itG
All its mystery and its magicC
All the lightness of the birch treeB
All the toughness of the cedarB
All the larch's supple sinewsI
And it floated on the riverB
Like a yellow leaf in AutumnD
Like a yellow water lilyB
-
Paddles none had HiawathaF
Paddles none he had or neededG
For his thoughts as paddles served himL
And his wishes served to guide himL
Swift or slow at will he glidedG
Veered to right or left at pleasureB
-
Then he called aloud to KwasindG
To his friend the strong man KwasindG
Saying Help me clear this riverB
Of its sunken logs and sand barsI
-
Straight into the river KwasindG
Plunged as if he were an otterB
Dived as if he were a beaverB
Stood up to his waist in waterB
To his arm pits in the riverB
Swam and shouted in the riverB
Tugged at sunken logs and branchesI
With his hands he scooped the sand barsI
With his feet the ooze and tangleA
-
And thus sailed my HiawathaF
Down the rushing TaquamenawD
Sailed through all its bends and windingsI
Sailed through all its deeps and shallowsI
While his friend the strong man KwasindG
Swam the deeps the shallows wadedG
-
Up and down the river went theyM
In and out among its islandsI
Cleared its bed of root and sand barB
Dragged the dead trees from its channelA
Made its passage safe and certainD
Made a pathway for the peopleA
From its springs among the mountainsI
To the water of PauwatingC
To the bay of TaquamenawD

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow



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