Samuel Coleridge-Taylor — Hiawathas Wedding Feast

You shall hear how Pau-Puk-Keewis How the handsome Yenadizze Danced at Hiawatha's wedding; How the gentle Chibiabos He the sweetest of musicians Sang his songs of love and longing; How Iagoo, the great boaster He the marvellous story-teller Told his tales of strange adventure That the feast might be more joyous That the time might pass more gayly And the guests be more contented Sumptuous was the feast Nokomis Made at Hiawatha's wedding; All the bowls were made of bass-wood White and polished very smoothly All the spoons of horn of bison Black and polished very smoothly She had sent through all the village Messengers with wands of willow As a sign of invitation As a token of the feasting; And the wedding guests assembled Clad in all their richest raiment Robes of fur and belts of wampum Splendid with their paint and plumage Beautiful with beads and tassels First they ate the sturgeon, Nahma And the pike, the Maskenozha Caught and cooked by old Nokomis; Then on pemican they feasted Pemican and buffalo marrow Haunch of deer and hump of bison Yellow cakes of the Mondamin And the wild rice of the river But the gracious Hiawatha And the lovely Laughing Water And the careful old Nokomis Tasted not the food before them Only waited on the others Only served their guests in silence And when all the guests had finished Old Nokomis, brisk and busy From an ample pouch of otter Filled the red-stone pipes for smoking With tobacco from the South-land Mixed with bark of the red willow And with herbs and leaves of fragrance Then she said, "O Pau-Puk-Keewis Dance for us your merry dances Dance the Beggar's Dance to please us That the feast may be more joyous That the time may pass more gayly And our guests be more contented!" Then the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis He the idle Yenadizze He the merry mischief-maker Whom the people called the Storm-Fool Rose among the guests assembled Skilled was he in sports and pastimes In the merry dance of snow-shoes In the play of quoits and ball-play; Skilled was he in games of hazard In all games of skill and hazard Pugasaing, the Bowl and Counters Kuntassoo, the Game of Plum-stones Though the warriors called him Faint-Heart Called him coward, Shaugodaya Idler, gambler, Yenadizze Little heeded he their jesting Little cared he for their insults For the women and the maidens Loved the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis He was dressed in shirt of doeskin White and soft, and fringed with ermine All inwrought with beads of wampum; He was dressed in deer-skin leggings Fringed with hedgehog quills and ermine And in moccasins of buck-skin Thick with quills and beads embroidered On his head were plumes of swan's down On his heels were tails of foxes In one hand a fan of feathers And a pipe was in the other Barred with streaks of red and yellow Streaks of blue and bright vermilion Shone the face of Pau-Puk-Keewis From his forehead fell his tresses Smooth, and parted like a woman's Shining bright with oil, and plaited Hung with braids of scented grasses As among the guests assembled To the sound of flutes and singing To the sound of drums and voices Rose the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis And began his mystic dances First he danced a solemn measure Very slow in step and gesture In and out among the pine-trees Through the shadows and the sunshine Treading softly like a panther Then more swiftly and still swifter Whirling, spinning round in circles Leaping o'er the guests assembled Eddying round and round the wigwam Till the leaves went whirling with him Till the dust and wind together Swept in eddies round about him Then along the sandy margin Of the lake, the Big-Sea-Water On he sped with frenzied gestures Stamped upon the sand, and tossed it Wildly in the air around him; Till the wind became a whirlwind Till the sand was blown and sifted Like great snowdrifts o'er the landscape Heaping all the shores with Sand Dunes Sand Hills of the Nagow Wudjoo! Thus the merry Pau-Puk-Keewis Danced his Beggar's Dance to please them And, returning, sat down laughing There among the guests assembled Sat and fanned himself serenely With his fan of turkey-feathers Then they said to Chibiabos To the friend of Hiawatha To the sweetest of all singers To the best of all musicians "Sing to us, O Chibiabos! Songs of love and songs of longing That the feast may be more joyous That the time may pass more gayly And our guests be more contented!" And the gentle Chibiabos Sang in accents sweet and tender Sang in tones of deep emotion Songs of love and songs of longing; Looking still at Hiawatha Looking at fair Laughing Water Sang he softly, sang in this wise: "Onaway! Awake, beloved! Thou the wild-flower of the forest! Thou the wild-bird of the prairie! Thou with eyes so soft and fawn-like!