The Song Of Hiawatha Vii: Hiawatha's Sailing Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABAACBDAABCEFGHEACC AFICJFHIHHDBHEBIHFBB JHFBCKBCHBBBFJCJLFJH BCHEBBFBJJCFDBBBCCKB FCMJBJFHJLJKAJHHBHHC BBJBDBGHMMHBHHBFHBBB BBJJAGDJJHHNJBADAJCD

'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 on 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 wrapper 'F
Thus aloud cried HiawathaG
In the solitary forestH
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 me 'F
And the tree with all its branchesI
Rustled in the breeze of morningC
Saying with a sigh of patienceJ
'Take my cloak O Hiawatha 'F
With his knife the tree he girdledH
Just beneath its lowest branchesI
Just above the roots he cut itH
Till the sap came oozing outwardH
Down the trunk from top to bottomD
Sheer he cleft the bark asunderB
With a wooden wedge he raised itH
Stripped it from the trunk unbrokenE
'Give me of your boughs O CedarB
Of your strong and pliant branchesI
My canoe to make more steadyH
Make more strong and firm beneath me 'F
Through the summit of the CedarB
Went a sound a cry of horrorB
Went a murmur of resistanceJ
But it whispered bending downwardH
'Take my boughs O Hiawatha 'F
Down he hewed the boughs of cedarB
Shaped them straightway to a frame workC
Like two bows he formed and shaped themK
Like two bended bows togetherB
'Give me of your roots O TamarackC
Of your fibrous roots O Larch treeH
My canoe to bind togetherB
So to bind the ends togetherB
That the water may not enterB
That the river may not wet me 'F
And the Larch with all its fibresJ
Shivered in the air of morningC
Touched his forehead with its tasselsJ
Slid with one long sigh of sorrowL
'Take them all O Hiawatha 'F
From the earth he tore the fibresJ
Tore the tough roots of the Larch treeH
Closely sewed the hark togetherB
Bound it closely to the frame workC
'Give me of your balm O Fir treeH
Of your balsam and your resinE
So to close the seams togetherB
That the water may not enterB
That the river may not wet me 'F
And the Fir tree tall and sombreB
Sobbed through all its robes of darknessJ
Rattled like a shore with pebblesJ
Answered wailing answered weepingC
'Take my balm O Hiawatha 'F
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 themK
Make a girdle for my beautyB
And two stars to deck her bosom 'F
From a hollow tree the HedgehogC
With his sleepy eyes looked at himM
Shot his shining quills like arrowsJ
Saying with a drowsy murmurB
Through the tangle of his whiskersJ
'Take my quills O Hiawatha 'F
From the ground the quills he gatheredH
All the little shining arrowsJ
Stained them red and blue and yellowL
With the juice of roots and berriesJ
Into his canoe he wrought themK
Round its waist a shining girdleA
Round its bows a gleaming necklaceJ
On its breast two stars resplendentH
Thus the Birch Canoe was buildedH
In the valley by the riverB
In the bosom of the forestH
And the forest's life was in itH
All its mystery and its magicC
All the lightness of the birch treeB
All the toughness of the cedarB
All the larch's supple sinewsJ
And it floated on the riverB
Like a yellow leaf in AutumnD
Like a yellow water lilyB
Paddles none had HiawathaG
Paddles none he had or neededH
For his thoughts as paddles served himM
And his wishes served to guide himM
Swift or slow at will he glidedH
Veered to right or left at pleasureB
Then he called aloud to KwasindH
To his friend the strong man KwasindH
Saying 'Help me clear this riverB
Of its sunken logs and sand bars 'F
Straight into the river KwasindH
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 scouted in the riverB
Tugged at sunken logs and branchesJ
With his hands he scooped the sand barsJ
With his feet the ooze and tangleA
And thus sailed my HiawathaG
Down the rushing TaquamenawD
Sailed through all its bends and windingsJ
Sailed through all its deeps and shallowsJ
While his friend the strong man KwasindH
Swam the deeps the shallows wadedH
Up and down the river went theyN
In and out among its islandsJ
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 mountainsJ
To the waters of PauwatingC
To the bay of TaquamenawD

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow



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