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Hiawatha's Departure
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By the shining Big-Sea-Water, At the doorway of the wigwam, In the early Summer morning, All the air was full of freshness, All the earth was bright and joyous, And before him, through the sunshine, Passed in golden swarms the Ahmo, Passed the bees, the honey-makers, Burning, singing in the sunshine. Level spread the lake before him; From its bosom leaped the sturgeon, Sparkling, flashing in the sunshine; Stood reflected in the water, Every tree-top had its shadow, Motionless beneath the water. Gone was every trace of sorrow, As the fog from off the water, As the mist from off the meadow. With a look of exultation, As of one who in a vision Sees what is to be, but is not, Toward the sun his hands were lifted, Both the palms spread out toward it, And between the parted fingers Flecked with light his naked shoulders, As it falls and flecks an oak-tree Through the rifted leaves and branches. Something in the hazy distance, Something in the mists of morning, Loomed and lifted from the water, Coming nearer, nearer, nearer. Was it Shingebis the diver? Or the pelican, the Shada? Or the white goose, Waw-be-wana, With the water dripping, flashing, From its glossy neck and feathers? Neither pelican nor heron, O'er the water floating, flying, Through the shining mist of morning, Rising, sinking on the water, Dripping, flashing in the sunshine; And within it came a people O'er the level plain of water? Or the Red Swan floating, flying, Wounded by the magic arrow, With the crimson of its life-blood, Filling all the air with splendor, Filling all the air with plumage? Sinking down into the water; All the sky is stained with purple, All the water flushed with crimson! Diving down beneath the water; To the sky its wings are lifted, With its blood the waves are reddened! Melts and trembles through the purple, Hangs suspended in the twilight, Walks in silence through the heavens. |