The Song Of Hiawatha V: Hiawatha's Fasting Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDEDFCBGHIJKCLIMC HNHNOLHCPCLMJCJJMNNC PCMGCHOGQNRCPCMNNNSG MCMMMMJOAJNCNAJNCCDN DNCJTGUNPANHMJVHGGGM MAHCNJJJANPMNNMMCHHO CGMNDANCCNJCGMHCNJJW MHCGHAHHNPMMCHJHHMHM HGHJHHJJMANCHRHMNMMG NANCACHDMNCNCNPNAHDC JMMJMJGJJNMVOCMAJSGH NNHJCNMAJXYou shall hear how Hiawatha | A |
Prayed and fasted in the forest | B |
Not for greater skill in hunting | C |
Not for greater craft in fishing | C |
Not for triumphs in the battle | D |
And renown among the warriors | E |
But for profit of the people | D |
For advantage of the nations | F |
First he built a lodge for fasting | C |
Built a wigwam in the forest | B |
By the shining Big Sea Water | G |
In the blithe and pleasant Spring time | H |
In the Moon of Leaves he built it | I |
And with dreams and visions many | J |
Seven whole days and nights he fasted | K |
On the first day of his fasting | C |
Through the leafy woods he wandered | L |
Saw the deer start from the thicket | I |
Saw the rabbit in his burrow | M |
Heard the pheasant Bena drumming | C |
Heard the squirrel Adjidaumo | H |
Rattling in his hoard of acorns | N |
Saw the pigeon the Omeme | H |
Building nests among the pinetrees | N |
And in flocks the wild goose Wawa | O |
Flying to the fen lands northward | L |
Whirring wailing far above him | H |
'Master of Life ' he cried desponding | C |
'Must our lives depend on these things ' | P |
On the next day of his fasting | C |
By the river's brink he wandered | L |
Through the Muskoday the meadow | M |
Saw the wild rice Mahnomonee | J |
Saw the blueberry Meenahga | C |
And the strawberry Odahmin | J |
And the gooseberry Shahbomin | J |
And the grape vine the Bemahgut | M |
Trailing o'er the alder branches | N |
Filling all the air with fragrance | N |
'Master of Life ' he cried desponding | C |
'Must our lives depend on these things ' | P |
On the third day of his fasting | C |
By the lake he sat and pondered | M |
By the still transparent water | G |
Saw the sturgeon Nahma leaping | C |
Scattering drops like beads of wampum | H |
Saw the yellow perch the Sahwa | O |
Like a sunbeam in the water | G |
Saw the pike the Maskenozha | Q |
And the herring Okahahwis | N |
And the Shawgashee the crawfish | R |
'Master of Life ' he cried desponding | C |
'Must our lives depend on these things ' | P |
On the fourth day of his fasting | C |
In his lodge he lay exhausted | M |
From his couch of leaves and branches | N |
Gazing with half open eyelids | N |
Full of shadowy dreams and visions | N |
On the dizzy swimming landscape | S |
On the gleaming of the water | G |
On the splendor of the sunset | M |
And he saw a youth approaching | C |
Dressed in garments green and yellow | M |
Coming through the purple twilight | M |
Through the splendor of the sunset | M |
Plumes of green bent o'er his forehead | M |
And his hair was soft and golden | J |
Standing at the open doorway | O |
Long he looked at Hiawatha | A |
Looked with pity and compassion | J |
On his wasted form and features | N |
And in accents like the sighing | C |
Of the South Wind in the tree tops | N |
Said he 'O my Hiawatha | A |
All your prayers are heard in heaven | J |
For you pray not like the others | N |
Not for greater skill in hunting | C |
Not for greater craft in fishing | C |
Not for triumph in the battle | D |
Nor renown among the warriors | N |
But for profit of the people | D |
For advantage of the nations | N |
'From the Master of Life descending | C |
I the friend of man Mondamin | J |
Come to warn you and instruct you | T |
How by struggle and by labor | G |
You shall gain what you have prayed for | U |
Rise up from your bed of branches | N |
Rise O youth and wrestle with me ' | P |
Faint with famine Hiawatha | A |
Started from his bed of branches | N |
From the twilight of his wigwam | H |
Forth into the flush of sunset | M |
Came and wrestled with Mondamin | J |
At his touch he felt new courage | V |
Throbbing in his brain and bosom | H |
Felt new life and hope and vigor | G |
Run through every nerve and fibre | G |
So they wrestled there together | G |
In the glory of the sunset | M |
And the more they strove and struggled | M |
Stronger still grew Hiawatha | A |
Till the darkness fell around them | H |
And the heron the Shuh shuh gah | C |
From her nest among the pine trees | N |
Gave a cry of lamentation | J |
Gave a scream of pain and famine | J |
''T Is enough ' then said Mondamin | J |
Smiling upon Hiawatha | A |
'But tomorrow when the sun sets | N |
I will come again to try you ' | P |
And he vanished and was seen not | M |
Whether sinking as the rain sinks | N |
Whether rising as the mists rise | N |
Hiawatha saw not knew not | M |
Only saw that he had vanished | M |
Leaving him alone and fainting | C |
With the misty lake below him | H |
And the reeling stars above him | H |
On the morrow and the next day | O |
When the sun through heaven descending | C |
Like a red and burning cinder | G |
From the hearth of the Great Spirit | M |
Fell into the western waters | N |
Came Mondamin for the trial | D |
For the strife with Hiawatha | A |
Came as silent as the dew comes | N |
From the empty air appearing | C |
Into empty air returning | C |
Taking shape when earth it touches | N |
But invisible to all men | J |
In its coming and its going | C |
Thrice they wrestled there together | G |
In the glory of the sunset | M |
Till the darkness fell around them | H |
Till the heron the Shuh shuh gah | C |
From her nest among the pine trees | N |
Uttered her loud cry of famine | J |
And Mondamin paused to listen | J |
Tall and beautiful he stood there | W |
In his garments green and yellow | M |
To and fro his plumes above him | H |
Waved and nodded with his breathing | C |
And the sweat of the encounter | G |
Stood like drops of dew upon him | H |
And he cried 'O Hiawatha | A |
Bravely have you wrestled with me | H |
Thrice have wrestled stoutly with me | H |
And the Master of Life who sees us | N |
He will give to you the triumph ' | P |
Then he smiled and said 'To morrow | M |
Is the last day of your conflict | M |
Is the last day of your fasting | C |
You will conquer and o'ercome me | H |
Make a bed for me to lie in | J |
Where the rain may fall upon me | H |
Where the sun may come and warm me | H |
Strip these garments green and yellow | M |
Strip this nodding plumage from me | H |
Lay me in the earth and make it | M |
Soft and loose and light above me | H |
'Let no hand disturb my slumber | G |
Let no weed nor worm molest me | H |
Let not Kahgahgee the raven | J |
Come to haunt me and molest me | H |
Only come yourself to watch me | H |
Till I wake and start and quicken | J |
Till I leap into the sunshine' | J |
And thus saying he departed | M |
Peacefully slept Hiawatha | A |
But he heard the Wawonaissa | N |
Heard the whippoorwill complaining | C |
Perched upon his lonely wigwam | H |
Heard the rushing Sebowisha | R |
Heard the rivulet rippling near him | H |
Talking to the darksome forest | M |
Heard the sighing of the branches | N |
As they lifted and subsided | M |
At the passing of the night wind | M |
Heard them as one hears in slumber | G |
Far off murmurs dreamy whispers | N |
Peacefully slept Hiawatha | A |
On the morrow came Nokomis | N |
On the seventh day of his fasting | C |
Came with food for Hiawatha | A |
Came imploring and bewailing | C |
Lest his hunger should o'ercome him | H |
Lest his fasting should be fatal | D |
But he tasted not and touched not | M |
Only said to her 'Nokomis | N |
Wait until the sun is setting | C |
Till the darkness falls around us | N |
Till the heron the Shuh shuh gah | C |
Crying from the desolate marshes | N |
Tells us that the day is ended ' | P |
Homeward weeping went Nokomis | N |
Sorrowing for her Hiawatha | A |
Fearing lest his strength should fail him | H |
Lest his fasting should be fatal | D |
He meanwhile sat weary waiting | C |
For the coming of Mondamin | J |
Till the shadows pointing eastward | M |
Lengthened over field and forest | M |
Till the sun dropped from the heaven | J |
Floating on the waters westward | M |
As a red leaf in the Autumn | J |
Falls and floats upon the water | G |
Falls and sinks into its bosom | J |
And behold the young Mondamin | J |
With his soft and shining tresses | N |
With his garments green and yellow | M |
With his long and glossy plumage | V |
Stood and beckoned at the doorway | O |
And as one in slumber walking | C |
Pale and haggard but undaunted | M |
From the wigwam Hiawatha | A |
Came and wrestled with Mondamin | J |
Round about him spun the landscape | S |
Sky and forest reeled together | G |
And his strong heart leaped within him | H |
As the sturgeon leaps and struggles | N |
In a net to break its meshes | N |
Like a ring of fire around him | H |
Blazed and flared the red horizon | J |
And a hundred suns seemed looking | C |
At the combat of the wrestlers | N |
Suddenly upon the greensward | M |
All alone stood Hiawatha | A |
Panting with his wild exertion | J |
Palpitating with | X |
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about The Song Of Hiawatha V: Hiawatha's Fasting poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Best Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow