The Song of Hiawatha   ::   Longfellow Henry Wadsworth

And where'er my footsteps wander,

All the wild beasts of the forest

Hide themselves in holes and caverns,

And the earth becomes as flintstone!"

"When I shake my flowing ringlets,"

Said the young man, softly laughing,

"Showers of rain fall warm and welcome,

Plants lift up their heads rejoicing,

Back Into their lakes and marshes

Come the wild goose and the heron,

Homeward shoots the arrowy swallow,

Sing the bluebird and the robin,

And where'er my footsteps wander,

All the meadows wave with blossoms,

All the woodlands ring with music,

All the trees are dark with foliage!"

While they spake, the night departed:

From the distant realmsof Wabun,

From his shining lodge of silver,

Like a warrior robed and painted,

Came the sun, and said, "Behold me

Gheezis, the great sun, behold me!"

Then the old man's tongue was speechless

And the air grew warm and pleasant,

And upon the wigwam sweetly

Sang the bluebird and the robin,

And the stream began to murmur,

And a scent of growing grasses

Through the lodge was gently wafted.

And Segwun, the youthful stranger,

More distinctly in the daylight

Saw the icy face before him;

It was Peboan, the Winter!

From his eyes the tears were flowing,

As from melting lakes the streamlets,

And his body shrunk and dwindled

As the shouting sun ascended,

Till into the air it faded,

Till into the ground it vanished,

And the young man saw before him,

On the hearth-stone of the wigwam,

Where the fire had smoked and smouldered,

Saw the earliest flower of Spring-time,

Saw the Beauty of the Spring-time,

Saw the Miskodeed in blossom.

Thus it was that in the North-land

After that unheard-of coldness,

That intolerable Winter,

Came the Spring with all its splendor,

All its birds and all its blossoms,

All its flowers and leaves and grasses.

Sailing on the wind to northward,

Flying in great flocks, like arrows,

Like huge arrows shot through heaven,

Passed the swan, the Mahnahbezee,

Speaking almost as a man speaks;

And in long lines waving, bending

Like a bow-string snapped asunder,

Came the white goose, Waw-be-wawa;

And in pairs, or singly flying,

Mahng the loon, with clangorous pinions,

The blue heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah,

And the grouse, the Mushkodasa.

In the thickets and the meadows

Piped the bluebird, the Owaissa,

On the summit of the lodges

Sang the robin, the Opechee,

In the covert of the pine-trees

Cooed the pigeon, the Omemee;

And the sorrowing Hiawatha,

Speechless in his infinite sorrow,

Heard their voices calling to him,

Went forth from his gloomy doorway,

Stood and gazed into the heaven,

Gazed upon the earth and waters.