Picture-writing Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEEEEEEFGHEIEJEKL EMGNLENOEPQRSSISSTEE JEEISJSIESTJTSSITTES SUEVSWWESSNS XFISFTATIETETGNSEFGS YNFSTEEEEFSTTSISNFIS FEIIIEESEFSFIIEISIEI ISFISFISIIFSSXTZSFNN SSZSSSSESZFSFNEJESET TIJSATIIJYQ

In those days said HiawathaA
quot Lo how all things fade and perishB
From the memory of the old menC
Pass away the great traditionsD
The achievements of the warriorsE
The adventures of the huntersE
All the wisdom of the MedasE
All the craft of the WabenosE
All the marvellous dreams and visionsE
Of the Jossakeeds the ProphetsE
quot Great men die and are forgottenF
Wise men speak their words of wisdomG
Perish in the ears that hear themH
Do not reach the generationsE
That as yet unborn are waitingI
In the great mysterious darknessE
Of the speechless days that shall beJ
quot On the grave posts of our fathersE
Are no signs no figures paintedK
Who are in those graves we know notL
Only know they are our fathersE
Of what kith they are and kindredM
From what old ancestral TotemG
Be it Eagle Bear or BeaverN
They descended this we know notL
Only know they are our fathersE
quot Face to face we speak togetherN
But we cannot speak when absentO
Cannot send our voices from usE
To the friends that dwell afar offP
Cannot send a secret messageQ
But the bearer learns our secretR
May pervert it may betray itS
May reveal it unto others quotS
Thus said Hiawatha walkingI
In the solitary forestS
Pondering musing in the forestS
On the welfare of his peopleT
From his pouch he took his colorsE
Took his paints of different colorsE
On the smooth bark of a birch treeJ
Painted many shapes and figuresE
Wonderful and mystic figuresE
And each figure had a meaningI
Each some word or thought suggestedS
Gitche Manito the MightyJ
He the Master of Life was paintedS
As an egg with points projectingI
To the four winds of the heavensE
Everywhere is the Great SpiritS
Was the meaning of this symbolT
Gitche Manito the MightyJ
He the dreadful Spirit of EvilT
As a serpent was depictedS
As Kenabeek the great serpentS
Very crafty very cunningI
Is the creeping Spirit of EvilT
Was the meaning of this symbolT
Life and Death he drew as circlesE
Life was white but Death was darkenedS
Sun and moon and stars he paintedS
Man and beast and fish and reptileU
Forests mountains lakes and riversE
For the earth he drew a straight lineV
For the sky a bow above itS
White the space between for daytimeW
Filled with little stars for night timeW
On the left a point for sunriseE
On the right a point for sunsetS
On the top a point for noontideS
And for rain and cloudy weatherN
Waving lines descending from itS
-
Footprints pointing towards a wigwamX
Were a sign of invitationF
Were a sign of guests assemblingI
Bloody hands with palms upliftedS
Were a symbol of destructionF
Were a hostile sign and symbolT
All these things did HiawathaA
Show unto his wondering peopleT
And interpreted their meaningI
And he said quot Behold your grave postsE
Have no mark no sign nor symbolT
Go and paint them all with figuresE
Each one with its household symbolT
With its own ancestral TotemG
So that those who follow afterN
May distinguish them and know them quotS
And they painted on the grave postsE
On the graves yet unforgottenF
Each his own ancestral TotemG
Each the symbol of his householdS
Figures of the Bear and ReindeerY
Of the Turtle Crane and BeaverN
Each inverted as a tokenF
That the owner was departedS
That the chief who bore the symbolT
Lay beneath in dust and ashesE
And the Jossakeeds the ProphetsE
The Wabenos the MagiciansE
And the Medicine men the MedasE
Painted upon bark and deer skinF
Figures for the songs they chantedS
For each song a separate symbolT
Figures mystical and awfulT
Figures strange and brightly coloredS
And each figure had its meaningI
Each some magic song suggestedS
The Great Spirit the CreatorN
Flashing light through all the heavenF
The Great Serpent the KenabeekI
With his bloody crest erectedS
Creeping looking into heavenF
In the sky the sun that listensE
And the moon eclipsed and dyingI
Owl and eagle crane and hen hawkI
And the cormorant bird of magicI
Headless men that walk the heavensE
Bodies lying pierced with arrowsE
Bloody hands of death upliftedS
Flags on graves and great war captainsE
Grasping both the earth and heavenF
Such as these the shapes they paintedS
On the birch bark and the deer skinF
Songs of war and songs of huntingI
Songs of medicine and of magicI
All were written in these figuresE
For each figure had its meaningI
Each its separate song recordedS
Nor forgotten was the Love SongI
The most subtle of all medicinesE
The most potent spell of magicI
Dangerous more than war or huntingI
Thus the Love Song was recordedS
Symbol and interpretationF
First a human figure standingI
Painted in the brightest scarletS
T Is the lover the musicianF
And the meaning is quot My paintingI
Makes me powerful over others quotS
Then the figure seated singingI
Playing on a drum of magicI
And the interpretation quot ListenF
T Is my voice you hear my singing quotS
Then the same red figure seatedS
In the shelter of a wigwamX
And the meaning of the symbolT
quot I will come and sit beside youZ
In the mystery of my passion quotS
Then two figures man and womanF
Standing hand in hand togetherN
With their hands so clasped togetherN
That they seemed in one unitedS
And the words thus representedS
Are quot I see your heart within youZ
And your cheeks are red with blushes quotS
Next the maiden on an islandS
In the centre of an IslandS
And the song this shape suggestedS
Was quot Though you were at a distanceE
Were upon some far off islandS
Such the spell I cast upon youZ
Such the magic power of passionF
I could straightway draw you to me quotS
Then the figure of the maidenF
Sleeping and the lover near herN
Whispering to her in her slumbersE
Saying quot Though you were far from meJ
In the land of Sleep and SilenceE
Still the voice of love would reach you quotS
And the last of all the figuresE
Was a heart within a circleT
Drawn within a magic circleT
And the image had this meaningI
quot Naked lies your heart before meJ
To your naked heart I whisper quotS
Thus it was that HiawathaA
In his wisdom taught the peopleT
All the mysteries of paintingI
All the art of Picture WritingI
On the smooth bark of the birch treeJ
On the white skin of the reindeerY
On the grave posts of the villageQ

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow



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