The White Stone Canoe Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCDCEFEF GFGFHIJI KLMLNKOK PDBDQDRS TDUDVDWD BXYXDZDZ DDXDDA2B2C2 D2DE2DUF2DF2 DG2H2XDF2XF2 XDDDF2DXD DF2XF2ZF2DF2 F2F2DF2I2DDD F2DJ2DDDDD XDXDXXDX K2F2DF2C2DC2D DF2DF2XXXX XF2L2F2DF2BF2 DB2F2B2DDBD M2N2DI2DXDX O2P2DP2XG2XX F2Q2XQ2R2F2S2F2 DAN INDIAN TRADITION VERSIFIED FROM SCHOOLCRAFT | A |
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It was a day of festive mirth | B |
And bright the Indian wigwams shone | C |
For 'twas a chieftain's bridal day | D |
And gladness dwelt in every tone | C |
But ere the glow of sunset hours | E |
Upon the western hills was shed | F |
Deep sadness rested on those bowers | E |
The bride was numbered with the dead | F |
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Days passed and still beside her tomb | G |
The stricken lover bowed his head | F |
And nightly through the forest's gloom | G |
The stars beheld him with his dead | F |
In vain did grey haired chieftains urge | H |
The youthful hunter to the chase | I |
He heard yet heeded not their words | J |
For grief had chained him to the place | I |
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They laid his war club by his side | K |
His bow and arrows too they brought | L |
And sang of glorious deeds of might | M |
That stately chiefs of yore had wrought | L |
But listlessly he heard their songs | N |
Flung back his bow with sullen pride | K |
And by the silent grave sat down | O |
Where they had laid his youthful bride | K |
- | |
But pleasant memories came at length | P |
Of what he learned in boyhood's day | D |
Of a bright path that led from earth | B |
O'er the blue mountains far away | D |
To the best land where spirits dwell | Q |
The home of GHEEZHA MONEDO | D |
Where parted loved ones meet again | R |
Beyond the reach of pain and woe | S |
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Then from the ground the warrior rose | T |
And bade the sleeping dust adieu | D |
And started for the spirit shore | U |
With the bright southern skies in view | D |
Forests and hills and vales and streams | V |
In his quick flight he left behind | D |
Earth's stores of rare and lovely things | W |
Had nought to charm the wand'rer's mind | D |
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The snow that lay upon the earth | B |
When he forsook his native hills | X |
Had slowly melted from his path | Y |
And sought the bed of crystal rills | X |
The woods assumed a gayer hue | D |
The flowers put on the bloom of spring | Z |
The clear sky shone with brighter blue | D |
And birds sped by on joyous wing | Z |
- | |
By these blest signs the warrior knew | D |
That he was travelling aright | D |
For old Tradition taught him so | X |
And on he pressed with fresh delight | D |
At length the shining path he spied | D |
Winding amid a beauteous grove | A2 |
Up to the summit of a hill | B2 |
That rose the verdant plain above | C2 |
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High on the summit stood a lodge | D2 |
To which this mystic pathway led | D |
Thither with undeclining zeal | E2 |
And ardent hopes the warrior sped | D |
An old man met him at the door | U |
With piercing eyes and long white hair | F2 |
Who took the wand'rer by the hand | D |
And kindly bade him welcome there | F2 |
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I know thy quest the old man said | D |
Leave here thy arrows and thy bow | G2 |
Thy body too thou must forsake | H2 |
Thither thy soul alone can go | X |
Thou seest yon gulf and far away | D |
Beyond a region bright and fair | F2 |
Whose blue hills in the distance rise | X |
Warrior the land of souls is there' | F2 |
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My lodge the gate of entrance is | X |
I'll guard whatever thou leav'st behind | D |
And thou may'st hasten on thy way | D |
A joyous spirit unconfined | D |
Thus saying the aged man withdrew | F2 |
And the freed traveller sped away | D |
As though his feet were changed to wings | X |
Upon his fair but shadowy way | D |
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Shadowy indeed for all he passed | D |
Trees plants and flowers no substance wore | F2 |
And birds and beasts were but the souls | X |
Of those that dwelt on earth before | F2 |
Yet birds swept by on joyous wing | Z |
And pausing gazed the timid deer | F2 |
With fearless look as if to say | D |
We have no strife or bloodshed here | F2 |
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Onward he went till just before | F2 |
A beauteous lake appeared in view | F2 |
And at the water's edge he spied | D |
A snow white shining stone canoe | F2 |
Lightly the warrior sprang within | I2 |
And grasped the paddle by his side | D |
When turning lo beside him sat | D |
The spirit of his beauteous bride | D |
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She sat within a light canoe | F2 |
And sweetly beckoned him away | D |
To a green isle that like a gem | J2 |
Amidst the sparkling waters lay | D |
High leaped the waves yet on they pressed | D |
Wreath after wreath of foam they passed | D |
Thus gliding o'er the water's breast | D |
They reached the wished for shore at last | D |
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Together o'er those verdant plains | X |
'Mid fadeless flowers the lovers walked | D |
And of their native hills and streams | X |
And forest homes they freely talked | D |
There were no storms no chilling winds | X |
No frost no blight to dim the flowers | X |
But never fading summer reigned | D |
Amid those calm and peaceful bowers | X |
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None hungered there no death no pain | K2 |
No blighted hope no sleepless fear | F2 |
No mourner sorrowed o'er the dead | D |
And no bereaved one dropped a tear | F2 |
Serenest skies were spread above | C2 |
Bright flowers were blooming all around | D |
And every eye was filled with love | C2 |
And music dwelt in every sound | D |
- | |
Here let me stay the warrior cried | D |
On this secluded happy shore | F2 |
Here with my loved and beauteous bride | D |
Where bitter partings are no more | F2 |
Thus spake the youth but ere the words | X |
Had died away upon the breeze | X |
There came a low sweet spirit voice | X |
Murm'ring among the sheltering trees | X |
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Warrior thus spake the breezy voice | X |
Return unto thy native shore | F2 |
Resume again thy mortal frame | L2 |
And mingle with thy tribe once more | F2 |
Listen to him who keeps the gate | D |
And he will tell thee what to do | F2 |
Obey his voice return to earth | B |
And virtue's pleasant paths pursue | F2 |
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Thy time to die has not arrived | D |
But let each gloomy thought be still | B2 |
Thy maiden waits thee on this shore | F2 |
Subject no more to pain or ill | B2 |
In never fading youth arrayed | D |
Here shall ye dwell in peace at last | D |
When thou hast done thy work on earth | B |
And life's brief wanderings are past | D |
- | |
Return thou yet must lead thy tribe | M2 |
Through many a wild adventurous scene | N2 |
But when a good old age is reached | D |
And thou their leader long hast been | I2 |
Then will I call thee to thy rest | D |
In this bright island of the skies | X |
Where thou mayst mingle with the blest | D |
While long succeeding ages rise | X |
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The chieftain woke 'twas fancy all | O2 |
The bright revealings of a dream | P2 |
Around him still the forest stood | D |
Beneath the cold moon's placid beam | P2 |
Up from the ground he proudly rose | X |
Took up his war club and his bow | G2 |
Quelled in his soul the bitter floods | X |
Of disappointment and of woe | X |
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And turning from the grave of her | F2 |
Who erst was all the world to him | Q2 |
He wiped away the gathering tears | X |
That made his eagle glances dim | Q2 |
And with a proud majestic step | R2 |
He slowly from the grave withdrew | F2 |
Resolved to hope and labor on | S2 |
With better prospects in his view | F2 |
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Footnote Merciful Spirit | D |
Pamela S. Vining, (j. C. Yule)
(1)
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