The Song of Hiawatha   ::   Longfellow Henry Wadsworth

"If this hateful Kwasind," said they,

"If this great, outrageous fellow

Goes on thus a little longer,

Tearing everything he touches,

Rending everything to pieces,

Filling all the world with wonder,

What becomes of the Puk-Wudjies?

Who will care for the Puk-Wudjies?

He will tread us down like mushrooms,

Drive us all into the water,

Give our bodies to be eaten

By the wicked Nee-ba-naw-baigs,

By the Spirits of the water!"

So the angry Little People

All conspired against the Strong Man,

All conspired to murder Kwasind,

Yes, to rid the world of Kwasind,

The audacious, overbearing,

Heartless, haughty, dangerous Kwasind!

Now this wondrous strength of Kwasind

In his crown alone was seated;

In his crown too was his weakness;

There alone could he be wounded,

Nowhere else could weapon pierce him,

Nowhere else could weapon harm him.

Even there the only weapon

That could wound him, that could slay him,

Was the seed-cone of the pine-tree,

Was the blue cone of the fir-tree.

This was Kwasind's fatal secret,

Known to no man among mortals;

But the cunning Little People,

The Puk-Wudjies, knew the secret,

Knew the only way to kill him.

So they gathered cones together,

Gathered seed-cones of the pine-tree,

Gathered blue cones of the fir-tree,

In the woods by Taquamenaw,

Brought them to the river's margin,

Heaped them in great piles together,

Where the red rocks from the margin

Jutting overhang the river.

There they lay in wait for Kwasind,

The malicious Little People.

`T was an afternoon in Summer;

Very hot and still the air was,

Very smooth the gliding river,

Motionless the sleeping shadows:

Insects glistened in the sunshine,

Insects skated on the water,

Filled the drowsy air with buzzing,

With a far resounding war-cry.

Down the river came the Strong Man,

In his birch canoe came Kwasind,

Floating slowly down the current

Of the sluggish Taquamenaw,

Very languid with the weather,

Very sleepy with the silence.

From the overhanging branches,

From the tassels of the birch-trees,

Soft the Spirit of Sleep descended;

By his airy hosts surrounded,

His invisible attendants,

Came the Spirit of Sleep, Nepahwin;

Like a burnished Dush-kwo-ne-she,

Like a dragon-fly, he hovered

O'er the drowsy head of Kwasind.