The Song Of Hiawatha: X Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCDEF GHIAJFI KIHLMFNI IHIHFH ICCAIFI GIFFCOIHK IFIIICC GFHHCF GICHII PHDIAFJIHQ ICAGHHHRFA OFIFQQJFIFF SICHHTIIIIFCI FQUVITOHDUIJKQ WIHIIX FFHTDU FCIDIHG OHIIQFIT FJHXHIHAHHH HGIHICHHIK SHIIGHFHHCFC FHIHFHIJ FSHGDHH AFFI HFFHHOJIYJ FFTAIIIXIFZCFF HICHGHHF ICFA2FTX Hiawatha's Wooing | A |
- | |
As unto the bow the cord is | B |
So unto the man is woman | C |
Though she bends him she obeys him | D |
Though she draws him yet she follows | E |
Useless each without the other | F |
- | |
Thus the youthful Hiawatha | G |
Said within himself and pondered | H |
Much perplexed by various feelings | I |
Listless longing hoping fearing | A |
Dreaming still of Minnehaha | J |
Of the lovely Laughing Water | F |
In the land of the Dacotahs | I |
- | |
Wed a maiden of your people | K |
Warning said the old Nokomis | I |
Go not eastward go not westward | H |
For a stranger whom we know not | L |
Like a fire upon the hearth stone | M |
Is a neighbor's homely daughter | F |
Like the starlight or the moonlight | N |
Is the handsomest of strangers | I |
- | |
Thus dissuading spake Nokomis | I |
And my Hiawatha answered | H |
Only this Dear old Nokomis | I |
Very pleasant is the firelight | H |
But I like the starlight better | F |
Better do I like the moonlight | H |
- | |
Gravely then said old Nokomis | I |
Bring not here an idle maiden | C |
Bring not here a useless woman | C |
Hands unskilful feet unwilling | A |
Bring a wife with nimble fingers | I |
Heart and hand that move together | F |
Feet that run on willing errands | I |
- | |
Smiling answered Hiawatha | G |
In the land of the Dacotahs | I |
Lives the Arrow maker's daughter | F |
Minnehaha Laughing Water | F |
Handsomest of all the women | C |
I will bring her to your wigwam | O |
She shall run upon your errands | I |
Be your starlight moonlight firelight | H |
Be the sunlight of my people | K |
- | |
Still dissuading said Nokomis | I |
Bring not to my lodge a stranger | F |
From the land of the Dacotahs | I |
Very fierce are the Dacotahs | I |
Often is there war between us | I |
There are feuds yet unforgotten | C |
Wounds that ache and still may open | C |
- | |
Laughing answered Hiawatha | G |
For that reason if no other | F |
Would I wed the fair Dacotah | H |
That our tribes might be united | H |
That old feuds might be forgotten | C |
And old wounds be healed forever | F |
- | |
Thus departed Hiawatha | G |
To the land of the Dacotahs | I |
To the land of handsome women | C |
Striding over moor and meadow | H |
Through interminable forests | I |
Through uninterrupted silence | I |
- | |
With his moccasins of magic | P |
At each stride a mile he measured | H |
Yet the way seemed long before him | D |
And his heart outran his footsteps | I |
And he journeyed without resting | A |
Till he heard the cataract's laughter | F |
Heard the Falls of Minnehaha | J |
Calling to him through the silence | I |
Pleasant is the sound he murmured | H |
Pleasant is the voice that calls me | Q |
- | |
On the outskirts of the forests | I |
'Twixt the shadow and the sunshine | C |
Herds of fallow deer were feeding | A |
But they saw not Hiawatha | G |
To his bow be whispered Fail not | H |
To his arrow whispered Swerve not | H |
Sent it singing on its errand | H |
To the red heart of the roebuck | R |
Threw the deer across his shoulder | F |
And sped forward without pausing | A |
- | |
At the doorway of his wigwam | O |
Sat his ancient Arrow maker | F |
In the land of the Dacotahs | I |
Making arrow heads of jasper | F |
Arrow heads of chalcedony | Q |
At his side in all her beauty | Q |
Sat the lovely Minnehaha | J |
Sat his daughter Laughing Water | F |
Plaiting mats of flags and rushes | I |
Of the past the old man's thoughts were | F |
And the maiden's of the future | F |
- | |
He was thinking as he sat there | S |
Of the days when with such arrows | I |
He had struck the deer and bison | C |
On the Muskoday the meadow | H |
Shot the wild goose flying southward | H |
On the wing the clamorous Wawa | T |
Thinking of the great war parties | I |
How they came to buy his arrows | I |
Could not fight without his arrows | I |
Ah no more such noble warriors | I |
Could be found on earth as they were | F |
Now the men were all like women | C |
Only used their tongues for weapons | I |
- | |
She was thinking of a hunter | F |
From another tribe and country | Q |
Young and tall and very handsome | U |
Who one morning in the Spring time | V |
Came to buy her father's arrows | I |
Lingered long about the doorway | T |
Sat and rested in the wigwam | O |
Looking back as he departed | H |
She had heard her father praise him | D |
Praise his courage and his wisdom | U |
Would he come again for arrows | I |
To the Falls of Minnehaha | J |
On the mat her hands lay idle | K |
And her eyes were very dreamy | Q |
- | |
Through their thoughts they heard a footstep | W |
Heard a rustling in the branches | I |
And with glowing cheek and forehead | H |
With the deer upon his shoulders | I |
Suddenly from out the woodlands | I |
Hiawatha stood before them | X |
- | |
Straight the ancient Arrow maker | F |
Looked up gravely from his labor | F |
Laid aside the unfinished arrow | H |
Bade him enter at the doorway | T |
Saying as he rose to meet him | D |
Hiawatha you are welcome | U |
- | |
At the feet of Laughing Water | F |
Hiawatha laid his burden | C |
Threw the red deer from his shoulders | I |
And the maiden looked up at him | D |
Looked up from her mat of rushes | I |
Said with gentle look and accent | H |
You are welcome Hiawatha | G |
- | |
Very spacious was the wigwam | O |
Made of deer skins dressed and whitened | H |
With the Gods of the Dacotahs | I |
Drawn and painted on its curtains | I |
And so tall the doorway hardly | Q |
Hiawatha stooped to enter | F |
Hardly touched his eagle feathers | I |
As he entered at the doorway | T |
- | |
Then uprose the Laughing Water | F |
From the ground fair Minnehaha | J |
Laid aside her mat unfinished | H |
Brought forth food and set before them | X |
Water brought them from the brooklet | H |
Gave them food in earthen vessels | I |
Gave them drink in bowls of bass wood | H |
Listened while the guest was speaking | A |
Listened while her father answered | H |
But not once her lips she opened | H |
Not a single word she uttered | H |
- | |
Yes as in a dream she listened | H |
To the words of Hiawatha | G |
As he talked of old Nokomis | I |
Who had nursed him in his childhood | H |
As he told of his companions | I |
Chibiabos the musician | C |
And the very strong man Kwasind | H |
And of happiness and plenty | H |
In the land of the Ojibways | I |
In the pleasant land and peaceful | K |
- | |
After many years of warfare | S |
Many years of strife and bloodshed | H |
There is peace between the Ojibways | I |
And the tribe of the Dacotahs | I |
Thus continued Hiawatha | G |
And then added speaking slowly | H |
'That this peace may last forever | F |
And our hands be clasped more closely | H |
And our hearts be more united | H |
Give me as my wife this maiden | C |
Minnehaha Laughing Water | F |
Loveliest of Dacotah women | C |
- | |
And the ancient Arrow maker | F |
Paused a moment ere he answered | H |
Smoked a little while in silence | I |
Looked at Hiawatha proudly | H |
Fondly looked at Laughing Water | F |
And made answer very gravely | H |
Yes if Minnehaha wishes | I |
Let your heart speak Minnehaha | J |
- | |
And the lovely Laughing Water | F |
Seemed more lovely as she stood there | S |
Neither willing nor reluctant | H |
As she went to Hiawatha | G |
Softly took the seat beside him | D |
While she said and blushed to say it | H |
I will follow you my husband | H |
- | |
This was Hiawatha's wooing | A |
Thus it was he won the daughter | F |
Of the ancient Arrow maker | F |
In the land of the Dacotahs | I |
- | |
From the wigwam he departed | H |
Leading with him Laughing Water | F |
Hand in hand they went together | F |
Through the woodland and the meadow | H |
Left the old man standing lonely | H |
At the doorway of his wigwam | O |
Heard the Falls of Minnehaha | J |
Calling to them from the distance | I |
Crying to them from afar off | Y |
Fare thee well O Minnehaha | J |
- | |
And the ancient Arrow maker | F |
Turned again unto his labor | F |
Sat down by his sunny doorway | T |
Murmuring to himself and saying | A |
Thus it is our daughters leave us | I |
Those we love and those who love us | I |
Just when they have learned to help us | I |
When we are old and lean upon them | X |
Comes a youth with flaunting feathers | I |
With his flute of reeds a stranger | F |
Wanders piping through the village | Z |
Beckons to the fairest maiden | C |
And she follows where he leads her | F |
Leaving all things for the stranger | F |
- | |
Pleasant was the journey homeward | H |
Through interminable forests | I |
Over meadow over mountain | C |
Over river hill and hollow | H |
Short it seemed to Hiawatha | G |
Though they journeyed very slowly | H |
Though his pace he checked and slackened | H |
To the steps of Laughing Water | F |
- | |
Over wide and rushing rivers | I |
In his arms he bore the maiden | C |
Light he thought her as a feather | F |
As the plume upon his head gear | A2 |
Cleared the tangled pathway for her | F |
Bent aside the swa | T |
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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