Hiawatha...

Contents

PAOX.

Guide to Study of Longfellow 5

Introduction to Hiawatha 9

Hiawatha — Introduction 11

The Peace-Pipe 15

Hiawatha's Childhood 31

Hiawatha's Fasting 49

Hiawatha's Friends 59

Hiawatha's Sailing 65

Hiawatha's Fishing 70

Hiawatha and the Pearl-Feather 78

Hiawatha's Wooing 88

Hiawatha's Wedding Feast 98

The Son of the Evening Star 106

Blessing the Corn-Fields 119

Picture-Writing 127

Hiawatha's Lamentation -. . . 133

The Death of Kwasind 161

4 CONTENTS

FAGS.

The Famine 178

The White-Man's Foot 179

Hiawatha's Departure 187

Notes 195

Vocabulary 202

A GUIDE TO THE STUDY OF HEE^EY WADSWOETH LOlsTGEELLOW.

IMPORTANT FACTS IN LONGFELLOW S LIFE.

Boyhood in Portland, Maine, 1807-1821. Education at Bowdoin College, 1821-1825. Election to chair of modern languages of Bowdoin College, 1825.

Residence abroad, 1826-1829.

Professorship in Bowdoin College, 1829-1835.

First book published, 1833.

Election to chair in Harvard College, 1835.

Second residence abroad, 1835-1836.

Professorship in Harvard College, 1836-1854.

Retirement to private life, 1854—1882.

CHEONOLOGY.

Birth, February 27, 1807. Graduation from College, 1825. Marriage to Miss Mary Potter, 1831. Death of Mrs. Longfellow, 1835. Marriage to Miss Frances Appleton, 1843. Death of Mrs. Longfellow, 1861. Death, March 24, 1882.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO HIS OWN BIOGRAPHY.

The Children's Hour.

The Courtship of Miles Standish.

b THE CRANE CLASSICS

To the Kiver Charles.

The Two Angels.

Three Friends of Mine.

Monturi Salutamus.

From Mj Arm-Chair.

BIOGRAPHICAL WRITINGS.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. By E. II. Stoddard, Scribner's Magazine, September, 1878.

Glimpses of Longfellow in Social Life. By Annie Fields. Century Magazine, April, 1886.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; a biographical sketch. By Francis H. Underwood, 1882.

Final Memorials of Longfellow. Edited by Samuel Longfellow, 1888.

The White Mr. Longfellow. From My Literary Friends and Acquaintances, W. D. Howells.

CONTEMPORARY POETS.

Tennyson.

Lowell.

The Brownings.

Bryant.

Hood.

Poe.

Wordsworth.

Holmes.

Moore.

Emerson.

Coleridge.

Whittier.

\GES INTO WHICH

Longfellow's poems aki-

TRANSLATED.

French.

German.

Portuguese.

Dutch.

Italian.

Swedish.

Spanish.

Danish.

Polish.

Russian.

GUIDE TO STUDY OF LONGFELLOW 7

MAGAZINE REFERENCE.

ISTorth American Review: October, 1834; January, 1840; July, 1842; January, 1848; July, 1849; January, 1856; April, 1867; July, 1867; April, 1881.

Macmillan's: May, 1886.

Harper's: June, 1882.

Outre-Mer.

Hyperion.

POETRY.

Early Poems — Sunrise on the Hills, Hymn of the Moravian Nuns.

Sea Poems — The Building of the Ship, The Bells of Lynn, The Fire of Driftwood, Sir Humphrey Gilbert.

Nature Poems — Autumn, Elowers, Flower de Luce, Birds of Killingworth, Rain in Summer, Hymn to the ISTight.

Human Slavery — The Slave's Dream, The Warning, The Slave Singing at Midnight.

g THE CRANE CLASSICS

Life and Death — The Keaper and the Flowers, Eesignation, The Builders, The Ladder of Saint Augustine, The Goblet of Life.

Translations — Dante's Divina Commedia, Children of the Lord's Supper, The Song of the Silent Land.

IJS'TEODUOTIOlsr TO HIAWATHA.

Longfellow was a student of languages. His residence abroad and his research at home made him familiar not only with several different tongues, but with the folklore as well as the classic of these tongues. His earliest and perhaps his best legendary writing is from European sources. HiaivatJia seems to have been a kind of obligation laid by the poet upon himself because of his own Americanism. It is rhythmical and pleasant, but essentially juvenile compared to the scope and fineness of his best creations.

It has, however, entered into the classic juvenile literature, and made a permanent place for itself; and it is a part of one's literary education to study it.

It was first published in 1855. In 1849 an Indian chief of the Ojibwa tribe lectured in Boston. The next year the chief visited the city again, and was a guest in Longfellow's home. From him the poet gathered something of the material and the inspiration that led to the creation of Hiaiuatha. From Schoolcraft's Algic Researches the main body of the legend was derived. This book of Schoolcraft's embraces the legends of most of the IlsTorth-xlmerican Indian tribes east of the Mississippi.

The scene of Hiawatha lies in the region about Lake Superior — "the shining Big-Sea-Water" of the story. The Ojibwa Indians, now known as the Chippewas, are the tribe represented; although the poet makes use of nearly all of the more important tribes in the eastern and northern portions of the United States.

As to literary qualities, the first merit of the poem lies in the smooth metre that is peculiarly adapted to the subject-matter. There are very few breaks in the regularity of the measure, and it ripples off the tongue like the legendary chants of the primitive peoples.

The coloring in the poem is vivid and natural. It is a nature story with nature's own mixing of tints and hues.

The legend itself is a typical one, such as all nations weave for themselves in the days that lie between their savage wildness and their recorded civilization. The story is of the hero, who is heaven-horn, and who out of his own strength conquers not alone his own enemies, but also the common enemies of his people. So he becomes a public benefactor. His wisdom is richer than the wisdom of the tribe; his strength is more than its strength; and his sympathy and unselfish doing lift it to a higher plane. There is also the essentially tragic side, as there is to all legend. For the hero passes away, to become a god, a saint, or a reincarnation of general usefulness ; but the loss of him is always tragical.

In the case of Hiawatha the tragedy^ is doubly pathetic. Coupled with the invasion of the white man is the knowing that he ought to come. And in that ought lies the impossibility of recovery from the tragic blow. The reader's sympathy is always with such a defeated hero, not because of defeat, which is temporary, but because his defeat is just, which is eternal.

HIAWATHA,

IlSrTKODUCTIOlSr.

Should jou ask me, whence these stories ? Whence these legends and traditions, With the odors of the forest, With the dew and damp of meadows. With the curling smoke of wigwams. With the rushing of great rivers, ^ With their frequent repetitions, And their wild reverberations, As of thunder in the mountains ?

I should answer, I should tell you, " From the forests and the prairies. From the great lakes of the ISTorthland, From the land of the Ojibways, From the land of the Dacotahs, From the mountains, moors, and fen-lands. Where the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, Feeds among the reeds and rushes, I repeat them as I heard them From the lips of I^awadaha, The musician, the sweet singer."

Should you ask where ITawadaha Found these songs, so wild and wayward. Found these legends and traditions, I should answer, I should tell you, " In the bird's-nests of the forest, ^^

In the lodges of the beaver, In the hoof -prints of the bison, In the eyry of the eagle !

"All the wild-fowl sang them to him, In the moorlands and the fen-lands. In the melancholy marshes ; Chetowaik, the plover, sang them, Mahng, the loon, the wild-goose, Wawa, The blue heron, the Shuh-shnh-gah, And the grouse, the Mushkodasa ! " If still further you should ask me. Saying, " Who was ISTawadaha ? Tell us of this ISTawadaha," - I should answer your inquiries Straightway in such words as follow.

" In the Vale of Tawasentha, In the green and silent valley, By the pleasant water-courses, Dwelt the singer :N'awadaha. Bound about the Indian village Spread the meadows and the corn-fields. And beyond them stood the forests. Stood the groves of singing pine-trees, Green in Summer, white in Winter, Ever sighing, ever singing.

"And the pleasant water-courses, * You could trace them through the valley. By the rushing in the Spring-time, By the alders in the Summer, By the white fog in the Autumn, By the black line in the Winter ;

IKTEODirCTlOK

And beside them dwelt the singer, In the Yale of Tawasentha, In the green and silent valley.

" There he sang of Hiawatha, Sang the Song of Hiawatha, Sang his wondrous birth and being, How he prayed and how he fasted, How he lived, and toiled, and suffered, That the tribes of men might prosper. That he might advance his people ! ''

Ye who love the haunts of Nature, Love the sunshine of the meadow. Love the shadow of the forest. Love the wind among the branches, "^^

And the rain-shower and the snow-storm. And the rushing of great rivers Through their palisades of pine-trees. And the thunder in the mountains. Whose innumerable echoes '^'^

Flap like eagles in their eyries ; — Listen to these wild traditions. To this Song of Hiawatha !

Ye who love a nation's legends, Love the ballads of a people, ®^

That like voices from afar off Call to us to pause and listen. Speak in tones so plain and childlike. Scarcely can the ear distinguish Whether they are sung or spoken ; — ^^

Listen to this Indian Legend, , To this Song of Hiawatha !

Ye whose hearts are fresh and simple, Who have faith in God and ISTature, Who believe, that in all ages Every human heart is human. That in even savage bosoms There are longings, yearnings, strivings Tor the good they comprehend not. That the feeble hands and helpless. Groping blindly in the darkness, Touch God's right hand in that darkness And are lifted up and strengthened ; — Listen to this simple story, To this Song of Hiawatha !

Ye, who sometimes, in your rambles Through the green lanes of the coimtry, Wliere the tangled barberry-bushes Hang their tufts of crimson berries Over stone walls gray with mosses, Pause by some neglected graveyard, For a while to muse, and ponder On a half-effaced inscription, Written with little skill of song-craft, Homely phrases, but each letter Full of hope and yet of heart-break, Full of all the tender pathos Of the Here and the Hereafter ; — Stay and read this rude inscription, Eead this Song of Hiawatha !

THE PEACE-PIPE 15

THE PEACE-PIPE.

I

On the Mountains of the Prairie, On the great Eed Pipe-stone Quarry, Gitche Manito, the mighty, He the Master of Life, descending, On the red crags of the quarry Stood erect, and called the nations, Called the tribes of men together.

Erom his footprints flowed a river. Leaped into the light of morning. O'er the precipice plunging downward Gleamed like Ishkoodah, the comet. And the Spirit, stooping earthward. With his finger on the meadow Traced a winding pathway for it. Saying to it, " Run in this way ! '' ^'

Erom the red stone of the quarry With his hand he broke a fragment, Moulded it into a pipe-head. Shaped and fashioned it with figures ; Erom the margin of the river 20

Took a long reed for a pipe-stem. With its dark green leaves upon it ; Eilled the pipe with bark of willow. With the bark of the red willow ; Breathed upon the neighboring forest, ^5

Made its great boughs chafe together, Till in flame they burst and kindled ;

16 THE CEAiq^E CLASSICS

And erect upon the mountains, Gitche Manito, the mighty, Smoked the calumet, the Peace-Pipe, As a signal to the nations.

And the smoke rose slowly, slowly. Through the tranquil air of morning. First a single line of darkness. Then a denser, bluer vapor, ^^

Then a snow-white cloud unfolding. Like the tree-tops of the forest. Ever rising, rising, rising. Till it touched the top of heaven, . Till it broke against the heaven, *^

And rolled outward all around it.

Prom the Vale of Tawasentha, Prom the Valley of Wyoming, Prom the groves of Tuscaloosa, Prom the far-off Rocky Mountains, *^

Prom the E'orthern lakes and rivers, All the tribes beheld the signal. Saw the distant smoke ascending. The Pukwana of the Peace-Pipe. And the Prophets of the nations Said: " Behold it, the Pukwana ! By this signal from afar off. Bending like a wand of willow, Waving like a hand that beckons, Gitche Manito, the mighty. Calls the tribes of men together. Calls the warriors to his council ! "

Down the rivers, o'er the prairies.

THE PEACE-PIPE

Came tlie Avarriors of the nations,

Came the Delawares and Mohawks, ^°

Came the Choctaws and Camanches,

Came the Shoshonies and Blackfeet,

Came the Pawnees and Omawhaws,

Came the Mandans and Dacotahs,

Came the Hurons and Ojibways, ®^

All the warriors drawn together

By the signal of the Peace-Pipe,

To the Mountains of the Prairie,

To the great Red Pipe-stone Quarry.

And they stood there on the meadow, "^^

With their weapons and their war-gear, Painted like the leaves of Autumn, Painted like the sky of morning, Wildly glaring at each other ;

In their faces stern defiance, "^^

In their hearts the feuds of ages, The hereditary hatred.

The ancestral thirst of vengeance.

Gitche Manito, the mighty. The creator of the nations, ^^

Looked upon them with compassion, With paternal love and pity ; Looked upon their wrath and wrangling But as quarrels among children, But as feuds and fights of children ! ^^

Over them he stretched his right hand. To subdue their stubborn natures, To allay their thirst and fever, By the shadow of his right hand ;

Spake to them with voice majestic

As the sound of far-off waters,

Falling into deep abysses,

Warning, chiding, spake in this wise: —

" O my children ! my poor children ! Listen to the words of wisdom, Listen to the words of warning. From the lips of the Great Spirit, From the Master of Lif e^ who made you !

"I have given you lands to hunt in, I have given you streams to fish in, I have given you bear and bison, I have given you roe and reindeer, I have given you brant and beaver. Filled the marshes full of wild-fowl. Filled the rivers full of fishes ; Why then are you not contented ? Why then will you hunt each other ?

" I am weary of your quarrels. Weary of your wars and bloodshed. Weary of your prayers for vengeance. Of your wranglings and dissensions ; All your strength is in your union, All your danger is in discord ; Therefore be at peace henceforward. And as brothers live together.

" I will send a Prophet to you, A Deliverer of the nations. Who shall guide you and shall teach you, Who shall toil and suffer with you. If you listen to his counsels,

THE PEACE-PIPE 19

You will multiply and prosper ; If his warnings pass unheeded, You will fade away and perish !

^' Bathe now in the stream before you, Wash the war-paint from your faces, ^^^

Wash the blood-stains from your fingers, Bury your war-clubs and your weapons. Break the red stone from this quarry. Mould and make it into Peace-Pipes, Take the reeds that grow beside you, ^^^

Deck them with your brightest feathers. Smoke the calumet together, And as brothers live henceforward ! '^

Then upon the ground the warriors Threw their cloaks and shirts of deer-skin, ^^^

Threw their weapons and their war-gear, Leaped into the rushing river, Washed the w^ar-paint from their faces. Clear above them flowed the water. Clear and limpid from the footprints ^^^

Of the Master of Life descending; Dark below^ them flowed the water. Soiled and stained with streaks of crimson, As if blood were mingled with it !

From the river came the warriors, **'

Clean and washed from all their war-paint ; On the banks their clubs they buried, Buried all their warlike weapons. Gitche Manito, the mighty.

The Great Spirit, the creator, ^^^

Smiled upon his helpless children !

20 THE CRAiq-E CLASSICS

And in silence all the warriors Broke the red stone of the quarry, Smoothed and formed it into Peace-Pipes, Broke the long reeds by the river, Decked them with their brightest feathers, And departed each one homeward. While the Master of Life, ascending. Through the opening of clond-cur tains, Through the doorways of the heaven. Vanished from before their faces. In the smoke that rolled around him, The Pukwana of the Peace-Pipe !

THE FOUR WIISTDS.

II

" Honor be to Mudjekeewis ! " Cried the warriors, cried the old men, When he came in triumph homeward With the sacred Belt of Wampum, From the regions of the IsTorth-Wind, From the kingdom of Wabasso, From the land of the White Eabbit.

He had stolen the Belt of Wampum From the neck of Mishe-Mokwa, From the Great Bear of the mountains, From the terror of the nations, As he lay asleep and cumbrous On the summit of the mountains, Like a rock with mosses on it. Spotted brown and gray with mosses.

Silently he stole upon him. Till the red nails of the monster Almost touched him, almost scared him. Till the hot breath of his nostrils Warmed the hands of Mudjekeewis, As he drew the Belt of Wampum Over the round ears, that heard not. Over the small eyes, that saw not.

Over the long nose and nostrils. The black muffle of the nostrils, Out of which the heavy breathing- Warmed the hands of Mudjekeewis.

Then lie swung aloft liis war-club, Shouted loud and long his war-cry, Smote the mighty Mishe-Mokwa In the middle of the forehead, Right between the eyes he smote him.

With the heavy blow bewildered. Rose the Great Bear of the mountains ; But his knees beneath him trembled. And he whimpered like a woman. As he reeled and staggered forward. As he sat upon his haunches ; And the mighty Mudjekeewis, Standing fearlessly before him, Taunted him in loud derision, Spake disdainfully in this wise: —

^^Hark you. Bear! you are a coward, And no Brave, as you pretended; Else you would not cry and whimper Like a miserable woman !

Bear ! you know our tribes are hostile, Long have been at war together ; E'ow you find that we are strongest, 'You go sneaking in the forest, You go hiding in the mountains ! Had you conquered me in battle i^Tot a groan would I have uttered ; But you. Bear ! sit here and whimper, And disgrace your tribe by crying. Like a wretched Shaugodaya, Like a cowardly old woman ! "

Then again he raised his war-club,

Smote again the Mishe-Mokwa

In the middle of his forehead, ®^

Broke his skull, as ice is broken

When one goes to fish in Winter.

Thus was slain the Mishe-Mokwa,

He the Great Bear of the mountains,

He the terror of the nations. ^^

" Honor be to Mudjekeewis ! '' With a shout exclaimed the people ; " Honor be to Mudjekeewis ! Henceforth he shall be the West- Wind, And hereafter and for ever ''^

Shall he hold supreme dominion Over all the winds of heaven. Call him no more Mudjekeewis, Call him Kabeyun, the West-Wind ! "

Thus was Mudjekeewis chosen ''^

Father of the Winds of Heaven. For himself he kept the West-Wind, Gave the others to his children ; Unto Wabun gave the East-Wind, Gave the South to Shawondasee, ^^

And the IsTorth-Wind, wild and cruel, To the fierce Kabibonokka.

Yoimg and beautiful was Wabun; He it was who brought the morning. He it was whose silver arrows ^^

Chased the dark o'er hill and valley; He it was whose cheeks were painted With the brightest streaks of crimson, And whose voice awoke the village,

Called the deer, and called the hunter.

Lonely in the sky was Wahnn ; Though the birds sang gayly to him, Though the wild-flowers of the meadow Filled the air with odors for him, Though the forests and the rivers ^^

Sang and shouted at his coming, Still his heart was sad within him, For he was alone in heaven.

But one morning, gazing earthward, While the village still was sleeping, ^^^

And the fog lay on the river. Like a ghost, that goes at sunrise. He beheld a maiden walking All alone upon a meadow.

Gathering water-flags and rushes ^^^'

By a river in the meadow.

Every morning, gazing earthward. Still the first thing he beheld there Was her blue eyes looking at him. Two blue lakes among the rushes. ^^^

And he loved the lonely maiden. Who thus waited for his coming ; For they both were solitary. She on earth and he in heaven.

And he wooed her with caresses, ^^°

Wooed her with his smile of sunshine. With his flattering words he wooed her. With his sighing and his singing, Gentlest whispers in the branches. Softest music, sweetest odors,

Till lie drew her to his bosom,

Folded in his robes of crimson, ~ - \

Till into a star he changed her.

Trembling still upon his bosom;

And forever in the heavens ^^s

They are seen together walking,

Wabun and the Wabun-Annung,

Wabun and the Star of Morning.

But the fierce Kabibonokka Had his dwelling among icebergs, ^'^

In the everlasting snow-drifts. In the kingdom of Wabasso, In the land of the White Rabbit. He it was whose hand in Autumn Painted all the trees with scarlet, ^^^

Stained the leaves with red and yellow ; He it was who sent the snow-flakes. Sifting, hissing through the forest. Froze the ponds, the lakes, the rivers, Drove the loon and sea-gull southward, ^*^

Drove the cormorant and curlew To their nests of sedge and sea-tang In the realms of Shawondasee.

Once the fierce Kabibonokka Issued from his lodge of snow-drifts, ^*^

From his lodge among the icebergs. And his hair, with snow besprinkled. Streamed behind him like a river. Like a black and wintry river. As he howled and hurried southward, *^^

Over frozen lakes and moorlands.

There among the reeds and rushes Found he Shingebis, the diver, Trailing strings of fish behind him, O'er the frozen fens and moorlands, ^^^

Lingering still among the moorlands, Though his tribe had long departed To the land of Shawondasee.

Cried the fierce Kabibonokka, " Who is this that dares to brave me ? ^^^

Dares to stay in my dominions, Wlien the Wawa has departed, When the wild-goose has gone southward, And the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, Long ago departed southward ? i^^

I will go into his wigwam, I will put his smouldering fire out ! "

And at night Kabibonokka To the lodge came wild and wailing. Heaped the snow in drifts about it, ^'^

Shouted down into the smoke-flue, Shook the lodge-poles in his fury, Flapped the curtain of the doorway. Shingebis, the diver, feared not, Shingebis, the diver, cared not; i"5

Four great logs had he for fire-wood, One for each moon of the winter, And for food the fishes served him. By his blazing fire he sat there, Warm and merry, eating, laughing, iso

Singing, " Kabibonokka, You are but my fellow-mortal ! "

THE BOUB WINDS

Then Kabibonokka entered, And tbongh Shingebis, the diver, Felt bis presence by tbe coldness, Eelt bis icy breath upon him. Still he did not cease his singing. Still he did not leave his laughing. Only turned the log a little, Only made the fire burn brighter. Made the sparks fly up the smoke-flue.

From Kabibonokka's forehead. From his snow-besprinkled tresses, Drops of sweat fell fast and heavy. Making dints upon the ashes. As along the eaves of lodges. As from drooping boughs of hemlock. Drips the melting snow in spring-time. Making hollows in the snow-drifts.

Till at last he rose defeated. Could not bear the heat and laughter. Could not bear the merry singing, But rushed headlong through the doorway. Stamped upon the crusted snow-drifts. Stamped upon the lakes and rivers, -^^

Made the snow upon them harder. Made the ice upon them thicker. Challenged Shingebis, the diver. To come forth and wrestle with him. To come forth and wrestle naked ^^^

On the frozen fens and moorlands.

Forth went Shingebis, the diver, Wrestled all night with the JSTorth-Wind^

Wrestled naked on the moorlands With the fierce Kabibonokka, Till his panting breath grew fainter, Till his frozen grasp grew feebler, Till he reeled and staggered backward. And retreated, baffled, beaten. To the kingdom of Wabasso, To the land of the White Eabbit, Hearing still the gusty laughter. Hearing Shingebis, the diver. Singing, " O Kabibonokka, You are but my fellow-mortal ! "

Shawondasee, fat and lazy. Had his dwelling far to southward. In the drowsy, dreamy sunshine. In the never-ending Summer. He it was who sent the wood-birds. Sent the Opechee, the robin. Sent the blue-bird, the Owaissa, Sent the Shawshaw, sent the swallow. Sent the wild-goose, Wawa, northward. Sent the melons and tobacco, And the grapes in purple clusters.

From his pipe the smoke ascending Filled the sky with haze and vapor, Filled the air with dreamy softness, Gave a twinkle to the water. Touched the rugged hills with smoothness. Brought the tender Indian Summer To the melancholy N'orth-land, In the dreary Moon of Snow-shoes.

Listless, careless Shawondasee ! ^'^^

In his life he had one shadow, In his heart one sorrow had he. Once, as he was gazing northward, Far away upon a prairie He beheld a maiden standing. Saw a tall and slender maiden All alone upon a prairie ; Brightest green were all her garments. And her hair was like the sunshine. Day by day he gazed upon her. Day by day he sighed^ with passion. Day by day his heart within him Grew more hot with love and longing For the maid with yellow tresses. But he was too fat and lazy To bestir himself and woo her ; Yes, too indolent and easy To pursue her and persuade her. So he only gazed upon her. Only sat and sighed with passion For the maiden of the prairie.

Till one morning, looking northward, He beheld her yellow tresses Changed and covered o'er with whiteness, Covered as with whitest snow-flakes. ^'^

"Ah, my brother from the ^DTorth-land, From the kingdom of Wabasso, From the land of the White Rabbit ! You have stolen the maiden from me. You have laid your hand upon her, ^"^^

30 THE C15A1S-E CLASSICS

You have wooed and won my maiden, With your stories of the North-land ! "

Thus the wretched Shawondasee Breathed into the air his sorrow; And the South-Wind o'er the prairie Wandered warm with sighs of passion, With the sighs of Shawondasee, Till the air seemed full of snow-flakes, Full of thistle-down the prairie, And the maid with hair like sunshine ^^^

Vanished from his sight for ever ; IsTever more did Shawondasee See the maid with yellow tresses !

Poor, deluded Shawondasee ! 'T was no woman that you gazed at, 'T was no maiden that you sighed for, 'T was the prairie dandelion That through all the dreamy Summer You had gazed at with such longing. You had sighed for with such passion. And had puffed away for ever. Blown into the air with sighing. Ah ! deluded Shawondasee !

Thus the Four Winds were divided; Thus the sons of Mudjekeewis ^^^

Had their stations in the heavens. At the corners of the heavens ; For himself the West- Wind only Kept the mighty Mudjekeewis.

HIAWATHA'S CHILDHOOD.

III. Downward througli the evening twilight

In the days that are forgotten,

In the nnrememhered ages,

From the full moon fell !N'okomis,

Fell the beautiful N'okomis,

She a wife, but not a mother.

She was sporting with her women, Swinging in a swing of grape-vines. When her rival, the rejected, Full of jealousy and hatred. Cut the leafy swing asunder. Cut in twain the twisted grape-vines. And ^okomis fell affrighted Downward through the evening twilight, On the Muskoday, the meadow. On the prairie full of blossoms. " See ! a star falls ! " said the people ; '^ From the sky a star is falling ! '^

There among the ferns and mosses. There among the prairie lilies. On the Muskoday, the meadow. In the moonlight and the starlight. Fair Nokomis bore a daughter. And she called her name Wenonah, As the first-born of her daughters. And the daughter of ISTokomis Grew up like the prairie lilies.

IS

Grew a tall and slender maiden,

With the beauty of the moonlight,

With the beauty of the starlight. ^^

And l^okomis warned her often, Saying oft, and oft repeating, ^' 0, beware of Mndjekeewis, Of the West-Wind, Mndjekeewis; Listen not to what he tells you; ^^

Lie not down upon the meadow. Stoop not down among the lilies. Lest the West-Wind come and harm you ! ''

But she heeded not the warning. Heeded not those words of wisdom. And the West- Wind came at evening. Walking lightly o'er the prairie. Whispering to the leaves and blossoms. Bending low the flowers and grasses, Found the beautiful Wenonah, Lying there among the lilies. Wooed lier with his words of sweetness, Wooed her with his soft caresses. Till she bore a son in sorrow. Bore a son of love and sorrow. ^^

Thus was born my Hiawatha, Thus was born the child of wonder ; But the daughter of Nokomis, Hiawatha's gentle mother. In her anguish died deserted By the West- Wind, false and faithless, By the heartless Mndjekeewis.

For her daughter, long and loudly

Wailed and wept tlie sad E'okomis ;

" that I were dead ! '' she murmnred, ^^

" O that I were dead, as thou art !

J^o more work, and no more weeping,

Wahonowin ! Wahonowin ! "

Bj the shores of Gitche Gumee, Bj the shining Big-Sea- Water, ^^

Stood the wigwam of Nokomis, Daughter of the Moon, ITokomis. Dark behind it rose the forest. Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees, Eose the firs with cones upon them ; ^^

Bright before it beat the water. Beat the clear and sunny water. Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

There the wrinkled, old ISTokomis ISTursed the little Hiawatha, "^^

Rocked him in his linden cradle, Bedded soft in moss and rushes. Safely bound with reindeer sinews ; Stilled his fretful wail by saying, " Hush ! the leaked Bear will get thee ! " ^o