The Song of Hiawatha   ::   Longfellow Henry Wadsworth

Up they rose with cry and clamor,

With a whir and beat of pinions,

Rose up from the reedy Islands,

From the water-flags and lilies.

And they said to Pau-Puk-Keewis:

"In your flying, look not downward,

Take good heed and look not downward,

Lest some strange mischance should happen,

Lest some great mishap befall you!"

Fast and far they fled to northward,

Fast and far through mist and sunshine,

Fed among the moors and fen-lands,

Slept among the reeds and rushes.

On the morrow as they journeyed,

Buoyed and lifted by the South-wind,

Wafted onward by the South-wind,

Blowing fresh and strong behind them,

Rose a sound of human voices,

Rose a clamor from beneath them,

From the lodges of a village,

From the people miles beneath them.

For the people of the village

Saw the flock of brant with wonder,

Saw the wings of Pau-Puk-Keewis

Flapping far up in the ether,

Broader than two doorway curtains.

Pau-Puk-Keewis heard the shouting,

Knew the voice of Hiawatha,

Knew the outcry of Iagoo,

And, forgetful of the warning,

Drew his neck in, and looked downward,

And the wind that blew behind him

Caught his mighty fan of feathers,

Sent him wheeling, whirling downward!

All in vain did Pau-Puk-Keewis

Struggle to regain his balance!

Whirling round and round and downward,

He beheld in turn the village

And in turn the flock above him,

Saw the village coming nearer,

And the flock receding farther,

Heard the voices growing louder,

Heard the shouting and the laughter;

Saw no more the flocks above him,

Only saw the earth beneath him;

Dead out of the empty heaven,

Dead among the shouting people,

With a heavy sound and sullen,

Fell the brant with broken pinions.