The Song Of Hiawatha - V - Hiawatha's Fasting Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDEDFCBGHIJKCLIMC HNHOPLHCQCLMJCJJMRSC QCMGCHPGTQUCQCMQQQVG MCMMMMJPAJQCQAJQCCDQ DQCJWGXQHAQHMJYHGGGM MAHCQJJJAQWMQQMMCHHP CGMQDAQCCQJCGMHCQJJZ MHCGHAHHQA2MMCHJHHMH MHGHJHHJJMAQCHUHMQMM GQAQCACHDMQCQCQMQAHD CJMMJMJGJJQMYPCMAJVG HQQHJCQMAJDQMMMAMJHM HCQJUAQCMJJMJJQJAMMQ QQGMGMMMQAJJQGCJA2QG JMQMMHGJDM| You 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 pine trees | O |
| And in flocks the wild goose Wawa | P |
| 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 | Q |
| 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 | R |
| Filling all the air with fragrance | S |
| Master of Life he cried desponding | C |
| Must our lives depend on these things | Q |
| 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 | P |
| Like a sunbeam in the water | G |
| Saw the pike the Maskenozha | T |
| And the herring Okahahwis | Q |
| And the Shawgashee the crawfish | U |
| Master of Life he cried desponding | C |
| Must our lives depend on these things | Q |
| On the fourth day of his fasting | C |
| In his lodge he lay exhausted | M |
| From his couch of leaves and branches | Q |
| Gazing with half open eyelids | Q |
| Full of shadowy dreams and visions | Q |
| On the dizzy swimming landscape | V |
| 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 | P |
| Long he looked at Hiawatha | A |
| Looked with pity and compassion | J |
| On his wasted form and features | Q |
| And in accents like the sighing | C |
| Of the South Wind in the tree tops | Q |
| Said he O my Hiawatha | A |
| All your prayers are heard in heaven | J |
| For you pray not like the others | Q |
| 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 | Q |
| But for profit of the people | D |
| For advantage of the nations | Q |
| From the Master of Life descending | C |
| I the friend of man Mondamin | J |
| Come to warn you and instruct you | W |
| How by struggle and by labor | G |
| You shall gain what you have prayed for | X |
| Rise up from your bed of branches | Q |
| Rise O youth and wrestle with me | H |
| Faint with famine Hiawatha | A |
| Started from his bed of branches | Q |
| 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 | Y |
| 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 | Q |
| 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 | Q |
| I will come again to try you | W |
| And he vanished and was seen not | M |
| Whether sinking as the rain sinks | Q |
| Whether rising as the mists rise | Q |
| 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 | P |
| 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 | Q |
| Came Mondamin for the trial | D |
| For the strife with Hiawatha | A |
| Came as silent as the dew comes | Q |
| From the empty air appearing | C |
| Into empty air returning | C |
| Taking shape when earth it touches | Q |
| 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 | Q |
| Uttered her loud cry of famine | J |
| And Mondamin paused to listen | J |
| Tall and beautiful he stood there | Z |
| 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 | Q |
| He will give to you the triumph | A2 |
| 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 | Q |
| Heard the whippoorwill complaining | C |
| Perched upon his lonely wigwam | H |
| Heard the rushing Sebowisha | U |
| Heard the rivulet rippling near him | H |
| Talking to the darksome forest | M |
| Heard the sighing of the branches | Q |
| 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 | Q |
| Peacefully slept Hiawatha | A |
| On the morrow came Nokomis | Q |
| 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 | Q |
| Wait until the sun is setting | C |
| Till the darkness falls around us | Q |
| Till the heron the Shuh shuh gah | C |
| Crying from the desolate marshes | Q |
| Tells us that the day is ended | M |
| Homeward weeping went Nokomis | Q |
| 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 | Q |
| With his garments green and yellow | M |
| With his long and glossy plumage | Y |
| Stood and beckoned at the doorway | P |
| 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 | V |
| Sky and forest reeled together | G |
| And his strong heart leaped within him | H |
| As the sturgeon leaps and struggles | Q |
| In a net to break its meshes | Q |
| 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 | Q |
| Suddenly upon the greensward | M |
| All alone stood Hiawatha | A |
| Panting with his wild exertion | J |
| Palpitating with the struggle | D |
| And before him breathless lifeless | Q |
| Lay the youth with hair dishevelled | M |
| Plumage torn and garments tattered | M |
| Dead he lay there in the sunset | M |
| And victorious Hiawatha | A |
| Made the grave as he commanded | M |
| Stripped the garments from Mondamin | J |
| Stripped his tattered plumage from him | H |
| Laid him in the earth and made it | M |
| Soft and loose and light above him | H |
| And the heron the Shuh shuh gah | C |
| From the melancholy moorlands | Q |
| Gave a cry of lamentation | J |
| Gave a cry of pain and anguish | U |
| Homeward then went Hiawatha | A |
| To the lodge of old Nokomis | Q |
| And the seven days of his fasting | C |
| Were accomplished and completed | M |
| But the place was not forgotten | J |
| Where he wrestled with Mondamin | J |
| Nor forgotten nor neglected | M |
| Was the grave where lay Mondamin | J |
| Sleeping in the rain and sunshine | J |
| Where his scattered plumes and garments | Q |
| Faded in the rain and sunshine | J |
| Day by day did Hiawatha | A |
| Go to wait and watch beside it | M |
| Kept the dark mould soft above it | M |
| Kept it clean from weeds and insects | Q |
| Drove away with scoffs and shoutings | Q |
| Kahgahgee the king of ravens | Q |
| Till at length a small green feather | G |
| From the earth shot slowly upward | M |
| Then another and another | G |
| And before the Summer ended | M |
| Stood the maize in all its beauty | M |
| With its shining robes about it | M |
| And its long soft yellow tresses | Q |
| And in rapture Hiawatha | A |
| Cried aloud It is Mondamin | J |
| Yes the friend of man Mondamin | J |
| Then he called to old Nokomis | Q |
| And Iagoo the great boaster | G |
| Showed them where the maize was growing | C |
| Told them of his wondrous vision | J |
| Of his wrestling and his triumph | A2 |
| Of this new gift to the nations | Q |
| Which should be their food forever | G |
| And still later when the Autumn | J |
| Changed the long green leaves to yellow | M |
| And the soft and juicy kernels | Q |
| Grew like wampum hard and yellow | M |
| Then the ripened ears he gathered | M |
| Stripped the withered husks from off them | H |
| As he once had stripped the wrestler | G |
| Gave the first Feast of Mondamin | J |
| And made known unto the people | D |
| This new gift of the Great Spirit | M |
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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The Song Of Hiawatha - V - Hiawatha's Fasting is a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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