The Indian Girl's Lament Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCC DEDEFF GHGHII JKJKLL FMFMNN OPOPAA JQJQRR STSTJJ UFUFVW| An Indian girl was sitting where | A |
| Her lover slain in battle slept | B |
| Her maiden veil her own black hair | A |
| Came down o'er eyes that wept | B |
| And wildly in her woodland tongue | C |
| This sad and simple lay she sung | C |
| - | |
| I've pulled away the shrubs that grew | D |
| Too close above thy sleeping head | E |
| And broke the forest boughs that threw | D |
| Their shadows o'er thy bed | E |
| That shining from the sweet south west | F |
| The sunbeams might rejoice thy rest | F |
| - | |
| It was a weary weary road | G |
| That led thee to the pleasant coast | H |
| Where thou in his serene abode | G |
| Hast met thy father's ghost | H |
| Where everlasting autumn lies | I |
| On yellow woods and sunny skies | I |
| - | |
| Twas I the broidered mocsen made | J |
| That shod thee for that distant land | K |
| 'Twas I thy bow and arrows laid | J |
| Beside thy still cold hand | K |
| Thy bow in many a battle bent | L |
| Thy arrows never vainly sent | L |
| - | |
| With wampum belts I crossed thy breast | F |
| And wrapped thee in the bison's hide | M |
| And laid the food that pleased thee best | F |
| In plenty by thy side | M |
| And decked thee bravely as became | N |
| A warrior of illustrious name | N |
| - | |
| Thou'rt happy now for thou hast passed | O |
| The long dark journey of the grave | P |
| And in the land of light at last | O |
| Hast joined the good and brave | P |
| Amid the flushed and balmy air | A |
| The bravest and the loveliest there | A |
| - | |
| Yet oft to thine own Indian maid | J |
| Even there thy thoughts will earthward stray | Q |
| To her who sits where thou wert laid | J |
| And weeps the hours away | Q |
| Yet almost can her grief forget | R |
| To think that thou dost love her yet | R |
| - | |
| And thou by one of those still lakes | S |
| That in a shining cluster lie | T |
| On which the south wind scarcely breaks | S |
| The image of the sky | T |
| A bower for thee and me hast made | J |
| Beneath the many coloured shade | J |
| - | |
| And thou dost wait and watch to meet | U |
| My spirit sent to join the blessed | F |
| And wondering what detains my feet | U |
| From the bright land of rest | F |
| Dost seem in every sound to hear | V |
| The rustling of my footsteps near | W |
William Cullen Bryant
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