The Song Of Hiawatha Xiv: Picture-writing Poem Rhyme Scheme

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In those days said Hiawatha	A
'Lo how all things fade and perish	B
From the memory of the old men	C
Pass away the great traditions	D
The achievements of the warriors	E
The adventures of the hunters	E
All the wisdom of the Medas	E
All the craft of the Wabenos	E
All the marvellous dreams and visions	E
Of the Jossakeeds the Prophets	E
'Great men die and are forgotten	F
Wise men speak their words of wisdom	G
Perish in the ears that hear them	H
Do not reach the generations	E
That as yet unborn are waiting	I
In the great mysterious darkness	E
Of the speechless days that shall be	J
'On the grave posts of our fathers	E
Are no signs no figures painted	K
Who are in those graves we know not	L
Only know they are our fathers	E
Of what kith they are and kindred	M
From what old ancestral Totem	G
Be it Eagle Bear or Beaver	N
They descended this we know not	L
Only know they are our fathers	E
'Face to face we speak together	N
But we cannot speak when absent	O
Cannot send our voices from us	E
To the friends that dwell afar off	P
Cannot send a secret message	Q
But the bearer learns our secret	R
May pervert it may betray it	S
May reveal it unto others '	T
Thus said Hiawatha walking	I
In the solitary forest	U
Pondering musing in the forest	U
On the welfare of his people	V
From his pouch he took his colors	E
Took his paints of different colors	E
On the smooth bark of a birch tree	J
Painted many shapes and figures	E
Wonderful and mystic figures	E
And each figure had a meaning	I
Each some word or thought suggested	K
Gitche Manito the Mighty	J
He the Master of Life was painted	K
As an egg with points projecting	I
To the four winds of the heavens	E
Everywhere is the Great Spirit	R
Was the meaning of this symbol	V
Gitche Manito the Mighty	J
He the dreadful Spirit of Evil	V
As a serpent was depicted	K
As Kenabeek the great serpent	O
Very crafty very cunning	I
Is the creeping Spirit of Evil	V
Was the meaning of this symbol	V
Life and Death he drew as circles	E
Life was white but Death was darkened	W
Sun and moon and stars he painted	K
Man and beast and fish and reptile	X
Forests mountains lakes and rivers	E
For the earth he drew a straight line	Y
For the sky a bow above it	S
White the space between for daytime	Z
Filled with little stars for night time	Z
On the left a point for sunrise	E
On the right a point for sunset	A2
On the top a point for noontide	A2
And for rain and cloudy weather	N
Waving lines descending from it	A2
	-
Footprints pointing towards a wigwam	B2
Were a sign of invitation	F
Were a sign of guests assembling	I
Bloody hands with palms uplifted	A2
Were a symbol of destruction	F
Were a hostile sign and symbol	V
All these things did Hiawatha	A
Show unto his wondering people	V
And interpreted their meaning	I
And he said 'Behold your grave posts	E
Have no mark no sign nor symbol	V
Go and paint them all with figures	E
Each one with its household symbol	V
With its own ancestral Totem	G
So that those who follow after	N
May distinguish them and know them '	-
And they painted on the grave posts	E
On the graves yet unforgotten	F
Each his own ancestral Totem	G
Each the symbol of his household	A2
Figures of the Bear and Reindeer	C2
Of the Turtle Crane and Beaver	N
Each inverted as a token	F
That the owner was departed	A2
That the chief who bore the symbol	V
Lay beneath in dust and ashes	E
And the Jossakeeds the Prophets	E
The Wabenos the Magicians	E
And the Medicine men the Medas	E
Painted upon bark and deer skin	F
Figures for the songs they chanted	A2
For each song a separate symbol	V
Figures mystical and awful	V
Figures strange and brightly colored	A2
And each figure had its meaning	I
Each some magic song suggested	A2
The Great Spirit the Creator	N
Flashing light through all the heaven	F
The Great Serpent the Kenabeek	I
With his bloody crest erected	A2
Creeping looking into heaven	F
In the sky the sun that listens	E
And the moon eclipsed and dying	I
Owl and eagle crane and hen hawk	I
And the cormorant bird of magic	I
Headless men that walk the heavens	E
Bodies lying pierced with arrows	E
Bloody hands of death uplifted	A2
Flags on graves and great war captains	E
Grasping both the earth and heaven	F
Such as these the shapes they painted	A2
On the birch bark and the deer skin	F
Songs of war and songs of hunting	I
Songs of medicine and of magic	I
All were written in these figures	E
For each figure had its meaning	I
Each its separate song recorded	A2
Nor forgotten was the Love Song	I
The most subtle of all medicines	E
The most potent spell of magic	I
Dangerous more than war or hunting	I
Thus the Love Song was recorded	A2
Symbol and interpretation	F
First a human figure standing	I
Painted in the brightest scarlet	A2
T Is the lover the musician	F
And the meaning is 'My painting	I
Makes me powerful over others '	-
Then the figure seated singing	I
Playing on a drum of magic	I
And the interpretation 'Listen	F
T Is my voice you hear my singing '	-
Then the same red figure seated	A2
In the shelter of a wigwam	B2
And the meaning of the symbol	V
'I will come and sit beside you	D2
In the mystery of my passion '	-
Then two figures man and woman	F
Standing hand in hand together	N
With their hands so clasped together	N
That they seemed in one united	A2
And the words thus represented	A2
Are 'I see your heart within you	D2
And your cheeks are red with blushes '	-
Next the maiden on an island	A2
In the centre of an Island	A2
And the song this shape suggested	A2
Was 'Though you were at a distance	E
Were upon some far off island	A2
Such the spell I cast upon you	D2
Such the magic power of passion	F
I could straightway draw you to me '	-
Then the figure of the maiden	F
Sleeping and the lover near her	N
Whispering to her in her slumbers	E
Saying 'Though you were far from me	J
In the land of Sleep and Silence	E
Still the voice of love would reach you '	-
And the last of all the figures	E
Was a heart within a circle	V
Drawn within a magic circle	V
And the image had this meaning	I
'Naked lies your heart before me	J
To your naked heart I whisper '	-
Thus it was that Hiawatha	A
In his wisdom taught the people	V
All the mysteries of painting	I
All the art of Picture Writing	I
On the smooth bark of the birch tree	J
On the white skin of the reindeer	C2
On the grave posts of the village	Q

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Song Of Hiawatha Xiv: Picture-writing Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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