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XXII
By
the shore of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining
Big-Sea-Water,
At the doorway of his wigwam,
In
the pleasant Summer morning,
Hiawatha stood and
waited.
All the air was full of freshness,
All the
earth was bright and joyous,
And before him, through
the sunshine,
Westward toward the neighboring forest
Passed in golden swarms the Ahmo,
Passed the bees,
the honey-makers,
Burning, singing In the sunshine.
Bright above him shone the heavens,
Level spread the
lake before him;
From its bosom leaped the sturgeon,
Sparkling, flashing in the sunshine;
On its margin
the great forest
Stood reflected in the water,
Every tree-top had its shadow,
Motionless beneath the
water.
From the brow of Hiawatha
Gone was every
trace of sorrow,
As the fog from off the water,
As
the mist from off the meadow.
With a smile of joy and
triumph,
With a look of exultation,
As of one who
in a vision
Sees what is to be, but is not,
Stood
and waited Hiawatha.
Toward the sun his hands were
lifted,
Both the palms spread out against it,
And
between the parted fingers
Fell the sunshine on his
features,
Flecked with light his naked shoulders,
As it falls and flecks an oak-tree
Through the rifted
leaves and branches.
O'er the water floating, flying,
Something in the hazy distance,
Something in the
mists of morning,
Loomed and lifted from the water,
Now seemed floating, now seemed flying,
Coming
nearer, nearer, nearer.
Was it Shingebis the diver?
Or the pelican, the Shada?
Or the heron, the
Shuh-shuh-gah?
Or the white goose, Waw-be-wawa,
With the water dripping, flashing,
From its glossy
neck and feathers?
It was neither goose nor diver,
Neither pelican nor heron,
O'er the water floating,
flying,
Through the shining mist of morning,
But a
birch canoe with paddles,
Rising, sinking on the
water,
Dripping, flashing in the sunshine;
And
within it came a people
From the distant land of
Wabun,
From the farthest realms of morning
Came
the Black-Robe chief, the Prophet,
He the Priest of
Prayer, the Pale-face,
With his guides and his
companions.
And the noble Hiawatha,
With his hands
aloft extended,
Held aloft in sign of welcome,
Waited, full of exultation,
Till the birch canoe with
paddles
Grated on the shining pebbles,
Stranded on
the sandy margin,
Till the Black-Robe chief, the
Pale-face,
With the cross upon his bosom,
Landed
on the sandy margin.
Then the joyous Hiawatha
Cried aloud and spake in this wise:
"Beautiful is the
sun, O strangers,
When you come so far to see us!
All our town in peace awaits you,
All our doors stand
open for you;
You shall enter all our wigwams,
For
the heart's right hand we give you.
"Never bloomed
the earth so gayly,
Never shone the sun so brightly,
As to-day they shine and blossom
When you come so far
to see us!
Never was our lake so tranquil,
Nor so
free from rocks, and sand-bars;
For your birch canoe
in passing
Has removed both rock and sand-bar.
"Never before had our tobacco
Such a sweet and
pleasant flavor,
Never the broad leaves of our
cornfields
Were so beautiful to look on,
As they
seem to us this morning,
When you come so far to see
us!'
And the Black-Robe chief made answer,
Stammered In his speech a little,
Speaking words yet
unfamiliar:
"Peace be with you, Hiawatha,
Peace be
with you and your people,
Peace of prayer, and peace
of pardon,
Peace of Christ, and joy of Mary!"
Then
the generous Hiawatha
Led the strangers to his
wigwam,
Seated them on skins of bison,
Seated them
on skins of ermine,
And the careful old Nokomis
Brought them food in bowls of basswood,
Water brought
in birchen dippers,
And the calumet, the peace-pipe,
Filled and lighted for their smoking.
All the old men
of the village,
All the warriors of the nation,
All the Jossakeeds, the Prophets,
The magicians, the
Wabenos,
And the Medicine-men, the Medas,
Came to
bid the strangers welcome;
"It is well", they said,
"O brothers,
That you come so far to see us!"
In a
circle round the doorway,
With their pipes they sat
In silence,
Waiting to behold the strangers,
Waiting to receive their message;
Till the Black-Robe
chief, the Pale-face,
From the wigwam came to greet
them,
Stammering in his speech a little,
Speaking
words yet unfamiliar;
"It Is well," they said, "O
brother,
That you come so far to see us!"
Then the
Black-Robe chief, the Prophet,
Told his message to
the people,
Told the purport of his mission,
Told
them of the Virgin Mary,
And her blessed Son, the
Saviour,
How in distant lands and ages
He had
lived on earth as we do;
How he fasted, prayed, and
labored;
How the Jews, the tribe accursed,
Mocked
him, scourged him, crucified him;
How he rose from
where they laid him,
Walked again with his disciples,
And ascended into heaven.
And the chiefs made answer,
saying:
"We have listened to your message,
We have
heard your words of wisdom,
We will think on what you
tell us.
It is well for us, O brothers,
That you
come so far to see us!"
Then they rose up and
departed
Each one homeward to his wigwam,
To the
young men and the women
Told the story of the
strangers
Whom the Master of Life had sent them
From the shining land of Wabun.
Heavy with the heat
and silence
Grew the afternoon of Summer;
With a
drowsy sound the forest
Whispered round the sultry
wigwam,
With a sound of sleep the water
Rippled on
the beach below it;
From the cornfields shrill and
ceaseless
Sang the grasshopper, Pah-puk-keena;
And
the guests of Hiawatha,
Weary with the heat of
Summer,
Slumbered in the sultry wigwam.
Slowly
o'er the simmering landscape
Fell the evening's dusk
and coolness,
And the long and level sunbeams
Shot
their spears into the forest,
Breaking through its
shields of shadow,
Rushed into each secret ambush,
Searched each thicket, dingle, hollow;
Still the
guests of Hiawatha
Slumbered In the silent wigwam.
From his place rose Hiawatha,
Bade farewell to old
Nokomis,
Spake in whispers, spake in this wise,
Did not wake the guests, that slumbered.
"I am going,
O Nokomis,
On a long and distant journey,
To the
portals of the Sunset.
To the regions of the
home-wind,
Of the Northwest-Wind, Keewaydin.
But
these guests I leave behind me,
In your watch and
ward I leave them;
See that never harm comes near
them,
See that never fear molests them,
Never
danger nor suspicion,
Never want of food or shelter,
In the lodge of Hiawatha!"
Forth into the village
went he,
Bade farewell to all the warriors,
Bade
farewell to all the young men,
Spake persuading,
spake in this wise:
I am going, O my people,
On a
long and distant journey;
Many moons and many winters
Will have come, and will have vanished,
Ere I come
again to see you.
But my guests I leave behind me;
Listen to their words of wisdom,
Listen to the truth
they tell you,
For the Master of Life has sent them
From the land of light and morning!"
On the shore
stood Hiawatha,
Turned and waved his hand at parting;
On the clear and luminous water
Launched his birch
canoe for sailing,
From the pebbles of the margin
Shoved it forth into the water;
Whispered to it,
"Westward! westward!"
And with speed it darted
forward.
And the evening sun descending
Set the
clouds on fire with redness,
Burned the broad sky,
like a prairie,
Left upon the level water
One long
track and trail of splendor,
Down whose stream, as
down a river,
Westward, westward Hiawatha
Sailed
into the fiery sunset,
Sailed into the purple vapors,
Sailed into the dusk of evening:
And the people from
the margin
Watched him floating, rising, sinking,
Till the birch canoe seemed lifted
High into that sea
of splendor,
Till it sank into the vapors
Like the
new moon slowly, slowly
Sinking in the purple
distance.
And they said, "Farewell forever!"
Said,
"Farewell, O Hiawatha!"
And the forests, dark and
lonely,
Moved through all their depths of darkness,
Sighed, "Farewell, O Hiawatha!"
And the waves upon
the margin
Rising, rippling on the pebbles,
Sobbed, "Farewell, O Hiawatha!"
And the heron, the
Shuh-shuh-gah,
From her haunts among the fen-lands,
Screamed, "Farewell, O Hiawatha!"
Thus departed
Hiawatha,
Hiawatha the Beloved,
In the glory of
the sunset,.
In the purple mists of evening,
To
the regions of the home-wind,
Of the Northwest-Wind,
Keewaydin,
To the Islands of the Blessed,
To the
Kingdom of Ponemah,
To the Land of the Hereafter!
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