The Song of Hiawatha   ::   Longfellow Henry Wadsworth

Red with blood of youth his cheeks were,

Soft his eyes, as stars In Spring-time,

Bound his forehead was with grasses;

Bound and plumed with scented grasses,

On his lips a smile of beauty,

Filling all the lodge with sunshine,

In his hand a bunch of blossoms

Filling all the lodge with sweetness.

"Ah, my son!" exclaimed the old man,

"Happy are my eyes to see you.

Sit here on the mat beside me,

Sit here by the dying embers,

Let us pass the night together,

Tell me of your strange adventures,

Of the lands where you have travelled;

I will tell you of my prowess,

Of my many deeds of wonder."

From his pouch he drew his peace-pipe,

Very old and strangely fashioned;

Made of red stone was the pipe-head,

And the stem a reed with feathers;

Filled the pipe with bark of willow,

Placed a burning coal upon it,

Gave it to his guest, the stranger,

And began to speak in this wise:

"When I blow my breath about me,

When I breathe upon the landscape,

Motionless are all the rivers,

Hard as stone becomes the water!"

And the young man answered, smiling:

"When I blow my breath about me,

When I breathe upon the landscape,

Flowers spring up o'er all the meadows,

Singing, onward rush the rivers!"

"When I shake my hoary tresses,"

Said the old man darkly frowning,

"All the land with snow is covered;

All the leaves from all the branches

Fall and fade and die and wither,

For I breathe, and lo! they are not.

From the waters and the marshes,

Rise the wild goose and the heron,

Fly away to distant regions,

For I speak, and lo! they are not.