The White Canoe. A Legend Of Niagara Falls Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A B C D EFGH I JJKKLLMNEO PPQQRREO R STUTVV WRWRAA R EEXDXAA YSYRRTT E YYZZTTAA A A2A2B2B2 R C2D2 E2E2F2F2 D G2AG2AAA RH2RH2AA I2AI2AAA R AAJ2AAJ2 PPK2RRK2 OOL2AAL2 A AAZZM2M2N2N2AARRO2O2 RR R A A W R AAA P2P2ZZ NN RRP2P2 A R R ZGZGJ2J2UU YRYRYYUU R R RPPUU V BBN2RN2R E D2D2PPRR Q2 R2R2M2M2 R OO RRJ2J2ZZ RR Y EZ ZROS2OT2T2B B A A G G EU2EU2 Q2 G G Q2 R R R R V2 V2 R WRQ2Q2RRW R Y R Y NM Q2 R YYQ2YYQ2 R RR R YA R YG2G2Q2Q2WR R Q2U2 R BB RRJ2J2 Q2 YY

In days long gone by it was the custom of the Indian warriors of the forest to assemble at the Great Cataract and offer a human sacrifice to the Spirit of the Falls The offering consisted of a white canoe full of ripe fruits and blooming flowers which was paddled over the terrible cliff by the fairest girl of the tribe It was counted an honor not only by the tribe to whose lot it fell to make the costly sacrifice but even by the doomed maiden herself The only daughter of a widowed Chief of the Seneca Indians was chosen as a sacrificial offering to the Spirit of Niagara Tolonga the Great Elk was bravest among the warriors and devotedly attached to his child but when the lot fell on her he crushed down in the pride of Indian endurance the feelings of grief that filled his bosom The eventful night arrived The moon arose and shone brightly down oh the turmoil of Niagara when the White Canoe and its precious freight glided from the bank and swept out into the dread rapid The young girl calmly steered towards the centre of the stream when suddenly another canoe shot forth upon the water and under the strong impulse of the Seneca Chief flew like an arrow to destruction It overtook the first the eyes of father and child met in a parting gaze of love and then they plunged together over the Cataract into Eternity	A
	-
	-
	-
	-
THE WHITE CANOE	B
	-
A Legend of Niagara Falls	C
	-
A CANTATA	D
	-
	-
MINAHITA Indian Maiden	E
OREIKA Her Friend	F
TOLONGA Minahita's Father	G
DOLBREKA Indian Chief	H
	-
	-
I	-
	-
Chorus	I
	-
In summer's rare beauty the earth is arrayed	J
Gay flowers are blooming on hill side and glade	J
Embalming the air with sweet subtle perfume	K
Enriching the earth with their beautiful bloom	K
The moss like green velvet yields soft 'neath the tread	L
The forest trees wave in luxuriance o'er head	L
Whilst fresh dawning beauties of sky wood and plain	M
Proclaim that fair summer is with us again	N
Let the choice then be made of the thrice favored one	E
Whom Niagara's Spirit will soon call his own	O
At morn when the sun wakes refulgent on high	-
In billows of gold hooding earth sea and sky	-
How glorious the music that welcomes his rays	P
One loud choral song of rejoicing and praise	P
The clear notes of birds and the soft rustling breeze	Q
The murmur of waters the sighing of trees	Q
And the thousand sweet voices so tender and gay	R
That haunt our old woods through the bright summer day	R
Let the choice then be made of the thrice favored one	E
Whom Niagara's Spirit will soon call his own	O
	-
DOLBREKA	R
	-
Ah yes the time and hour have come	S
To choose a fitting bride	T
For that Spirit who from his wat'ry home	U
Speaks forth in might and pride	T
Whilst the zephyrs toy with his sapphire waves	V
He would bear her down to his crystal caves	V
	-
Seek the woods for buds to deck her brow	W
And offerings must she bring	R
Ripe blooming fruits and fragrant bough	W
As gifts for the River King	R
Gifts of earth's loveliest things while she	A
'Mid our maidens fair must the fairest be	A
	-
	-
II	-
	-
OREIKA	R
	-
The Sachems all have spoken and the lot has fallen on one	E
As fair as any wild rose that blossoms 'neath the sun	E
Her eyes like starlit waters are liquid soft and clear	X
Her voice like sweetest song bird's in the springtime of the	D
year	X
No merry fawn that lightly springs from forest tree to tree	A
Hath form so light and graceful or footstep half as free	A
	-
Like plumage of the raven is her heavy silken hair	Y
Which she binds with scarlet blossoms with strings of wampum	S
rare	Y
And the crimson hue that flushes her soft though dusky cheek	R
Is like the sunbeam's parting blush upon the mountain peak	R
O never since Niagara first thundered down in pride	T
Had the Spirit of its waters so beautiful a bride	T
	-
Chorus of Indian Women	E
	-
Ah Minahita sister fair	Y
What lot with thine can now compare	Y
'Mid all the daughters of our race	Z
Peerless in beauty and in grace	Z
More blest than if in wifehood's pride	T
Thou stood'st at some young warrior's side	T
Or with fair children round thy knee	A
Didst crown thy young maternity	A
	-
	-
III	-
	-
MINAHITA	A
	-
My heart is throbbing with solemn joy	A2
May no earthly thoughts that bliss alloy	A2
By Sachems chosen and tribesmen all	B2
I gladly lead and obey the call	B2
	-
TOLONGA	R
	-
Ah spoken well my daughter and worthy of thy sires	C2
Who've ever held an honored place around our council fires	D2
My foot treads earth more proudly my heart beats quick and high	-
To know that like a Sachem's child my daughter goes to die	-
Though Mamtou denied me a son to glad mine age	E2
To follow in the warpath when our foes fierce combat wage	E2
I offer him with grateful heart thanksgiving deep and warm	F2
That he has placed a warrior's heart within thy fragile form	F2
	-
Aria	D
	-
Just sixteen spring tides hast thou seen	G2
Beneath the forest shade	A
And ever sweet and mild of mien	G2
Like sunbeam hast thou played	A
Around my widowed home and heart	A
Yet thou and I must quickly part	A
	-
As firmly as the towering oak	R
Deep rooted in the earth	H2
Can brave the storm and thunder stroke	R
So even from thy birth	H2
Deep love for thee hath held my heart	A
And yet ungrieving must we part	A
	-
And closely as the ivy clings	I2
Around some forest tree	A
Till from its glossy em'rald rings	I2
No bough or limb is free	A
So art thou twined around my heart	A
And yet rejoicing must we part	A
	-
	-
IV	-
	-
OREIKA	R
	-
Alas my sister do not chide	A
That thoughts of grief instead of pride	A
Within my heart lie deep	J2
Fain would I speak with mien elate	A
Of thy predestined glorious fate	A
And yet I can but weep	J2
	-
When come the short'ning Autumn days	P
While gathering in the golden maize	P
I'll miss thy tender voice	K2
And when our merry maidens say	R
Oreika join us in our play	R
How can I then rejoice	K2
	-
And oh I will not grieve alone	O
For when another moon has flown	O
And Osseo will return	L2
Hopeful to seek thee for his bride	A
How deeply will his heart be tried	A
When he thy fate shall learn	L2
	-
MINAHITA	A
	-
Enough my sister wouldst make me sad	A
When my smile should be bright and my heart be glad	A
You know 'tis an honor to sire and race	Z
And to shrink from my lot would bring dire disgrace	Z
For no earthly love must I weakly pine	M2
I yield to a suitor of rank divine	M2
To my girlhood's love must I say farewell	N2
To the dreams that were sweeter than words can tell	N2
The chill embrace of the waters cold	A
Clasping my form in their viewless hold	A
Laving my brow in their terrible play	R
Tangling my locks with their glittering spray	R
Freezing my warm blood stifling my breath	O2
With awful kisses that bring but death	O2
To such endearments I now must go	R
Where my Spirit bridegroom dwells below	R
	-
OREIKA	R
	-
'Tis fearful alas and must it be	A
	-
MINAHITA	A
	-
What would'st thou	W
	-
OREIKA	R
	-
Flee oh quickly flee	A
Through secret paths seek Osseo's side	A
Who will gladly welcome and shield his bride	A
To far off lands thou with him canst fly	-
In mutual love to live and die	-
	-
MINAHITA	-
	-
Thou forgettest my sister An Indian maid	-
Not of death but dishonor should be afraid	-
Thou did'st couple love with dear Osseo's name	P2
But love would be short lived if joined with shame	P2
My father bowed 'neath dark disgrace	Z
My name a bye word to all my race	Z
I would find no joy in my rescued life	-
Dogged by remorse and inward strife	-
Till hiding myself from all friendly ken	N
I should die despised by both Gods and men	N
No sister better an early grave	-
In yon lone dell where the pine trees wave	-
Better a fiery death at the stake	R
While foes fierce sport of the captive make	R
With cruelest tortures that man can frame	P2
Thrice better than life with dishonored name	P2
	-
	-
V	A
	-
TOLONGA MINAHITA DOLBREKA	R
	-
TOLONGA	R
	-
Daughter of a dauntless race	Z
Now draws nigh the solemn hour	G
Which O maid of childlike grace	Z
Well might make the bravest cower	G
Thundering down the awful steep	J2
Hear Niagara's waters leap	J2
Tossing surging flecked with foam	U
Child my child they call thee home	U
	-
MINAHITA	-
	-
I am ready See I wear	Y
Wampum belt and garments gay	R
Mark my smoothly braided hair	Y
Decked with shells and wild flower spray	R
My wrists their silver circlets bear	Y
Polished with maiden's patient care	Y
Unshrinking from the stormy foam	U
I'm ready for my wild chill home	U
	-
DOLBREKA	R
	-
Girl thou art a worthy bride	-
For Niagara's fierce King	R
Men will think of thee with pride	-
Maidens will thy courage sing	R
Sachems tell of thee with praise	P
Warriors on thee proudly gaze	P
While pure and fair as ocean foam	U
Thou passest to the Spirit's home	U
	-
Chorus of Indian Braves	V
	-
We have launched the light canoe	B
Upon Niagara's waters blue	B
'Tis white and bright as an ocean shell	N2
Swifter than the sea gull's wing	R
Worthy the hand that will guide it well	N2
Amid the foam wreaths the wild waves fling	R
	-
Chorus of Indian Women	E
	-
And it is freighted with fragrant flowers	D2
The brightest culled 'mid our forest bowers	D2
Fruits ripened beneath the sun's warm rays	P
And silky tassels of golden maize	P
And with them the maid who is doomed to bring	R
These gifts to the pitiless Cataract King	R
	-
Chorus of Male and Female Voices	Q2
	-
Fair are the flowers but she's fairer far	R2
Lovelier she than the Evening Star	R2
Pure as the moonbeams that tremulous shine	M2
Flooding the earth with their sheen divine	M2
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VI	-
	-
TOLONGA	R
	-
Oh weary heart I have wandered lone	O
Close to Niagara's awful throne	O
I've gazed till his roar and fearful might	-
Have dulled mine ear and blinded my sight	-
I've heard the hoarse and terrible song	R
Of the mountain waves as they rolled along	R
And plunged down the watery precipice steep	J2
Like white robed furies that whirl and leap	J2
I thought of my child's fair form and face	Z
Grasped in their stormy cruel embrace	Z
The tender arms that have clasped me oft	-
In dying agony flung aloft	-
The delicate limbs a helpless prey	R
To their maddened rage or demon play	R
And I turned aside in anguish wild	-
Oh wretched Father My child my child	-
But I must be calm and act a part	-
Nor show the fierce grief that rends my heart	-
A Seneca chief must learn to hide	-
His pangs 'neath a mask of stoic pride	-
	-
	-
VII	-
	-
MINAHITA Prayer	Y
	-
Hear me Thou great and glorious One	E
Protector of my race	Z
Whom in the far off Spirit Land	-
I shall soon see face to face	Z
I ask Thee humbly bending	R
Before Thy Mighty Throne	O
To cleanse me from all stain of sin	S2
And make me soon thine own	O
My people guard and bless	T2
All wrongs and ills redress	T2
Their enemies subdue	B
And for the youth the life I freely yield	-
Give them peace plenty victory in the field	-
And honest hearts and true	B
	-
	-
VIII	-
	-
TOLONGA Duet	-
	-
My daughter let me press thee	A
Close to my yearning heart	-
Ah once more softly bless thee	A
Ere we for ever part	-
I adjure thee not to falter	G
In the trial now so nigh	-
But as victim on the altar	G
A Sachem's daughter die	-
	-
MINAHITA	-
	-
Father courage will be given	E
In that awful hour supreme	U2
When all earth's ties are riven	E
And I float down death's dark stream	U2
	-
Both Voices	Q2
	-
Yes courage not to falter	G
In the trial now so nigh	-
But as victim on the altar	G
A Sachem's daughter die	-
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IX	Q2
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OREIKA	R
	-
One lingering last farewell embrace I take	R
	-
MINAHITA	-
	-
Yes one for thine and one for Osseo's sake	R
	-
OREIKA	R
	-
How solace him beneath his trial sore	V2
	-
MINAHITA	-
	-
Tell him I loved him well but honor more	V2
	-
Chorus Voices approaching	R
	-
The moon is gilding the Cataract's brow	W
And tinging his foam robe as white as snow	R
Like silver it gleams	Q2
'Neath the bright moon beams	Q2
Whilst soft and slow	R
The waters flow	R
For his lovely bride he is waiting now	W
	-
OREIKA	R
	-
The hour is come despair despair	Y
	-
TOLONGA	R
	-
Girl such idle words forbear	Y
	-
MINAHITA	-
	-
In the Spirit Land we shall meet again	N
Where unknown are parting and grief and pain	M
	-
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X	Q2
	-
OREIKA	R
	-
Ah the cruel rite is over	Y
And the fearful Spirit Lover	Y
Clasps the dear pearl of our race	Q2
Like the blushing summer flower	Y
Or the clouds of sunset hour	Y
She has passed and left no trace	Q2
	-
DOLBREKA	R
	-
Thou wast not there Then listen child	-
Unto a tale of sorrow wild	-
That has o'erwhelmed with gloom and grief	-
Heart of warrior brave and chief	-
Rose from the banks the sound of song	R
Lights were gleaming the trees among	R
All were awaiting the hour of fate	-
When the white canoe and precious freight	-
From shore swept out and swiftly sped	-
Into the boiling rapid dread	-
	-
OREIKA	R
	-
Ah me in that last moment drear	Y
How looked she	A
	-
DOLBREKA	R
	-
Tranquil without fear	Y
But steered her course with quiet mien	G2
And the stately grace of a maiden Queen	G2
Then rose beneath the moon's full rays	Q2
Glad voices blent in love and praise	Q2
Till sudden as arrow from the bow	W
Flashed 'mid the rapid's dark swift flow	R
Another bark it held oh grief	-
Tolonga our brave Beloved chief	-
	-
OREIKA	R
	-
What her father didst thou say	Q2
Our chief our Sachem	U2
	-
DOLBREKA	R
	-
Aye	-
'Neath his strong arm the bark swift flew	B
It soon o'ertook the White Canoe	B
And then amid our outcries wild	-
The eyes of father and of child	-
Met in one long last loving look	R
That ne'er each other's glance forsook	R
Till they glided o'er Niagara's steep	J2
And plunged into the darkness deep	J2
	-
Final Chorus	Q2
	-
Ah never since first with thundering roar	Y
Niagara shook the trembling shore	Y
Hath earth bestowed him such offering bright	-
As he's clasped to his mighty breast to night	-

Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon

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