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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=409780" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Song of Hiawatha X: Hiawatha's Wooing</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">'As unto the bow the cord is,<br>So unto the man is woman,<br>Though she bends him, she obeys him,<br>Though she draws him, yet she follows,<br>Useless each without the other!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Thus the youthful Hiawatha<br>Said within himself and pondered,<br>Much perplexed by various feelings,<br>Listless, longing, hoping, fearing,<br>Dreaming still of Minnehaha,<br>Of the lovely Laughing Water,<br>In the land of the Dacotahs.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Wed a maiden of your people,'<br>Warning said the old Nokomis;<br>'Go not eastward, go not westward,<br>For a stranger, whom we know not!<br>Like a fire upon the hearth-stone<br>Is a neighbor's homely daughter,<br>Like the starlight or the moonlight<br>Is the handsomest of strangers!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Thus dissuading spake Nokomis,<br>And my Hiawatha answered<br>Only this: 'Dear old Nokomis,<br>Very pleasant is the firelight,<br>But I like the starlight better,<br>Better do I like the moonlight!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Gravely then said old Nokomis:<br>'Bring not here an idle maiden,<br>Bring not here a useless woman,<br>Hands unskilful, feet unwilling;<br>Bring a wife with nimble fingers,<br>Heart and hand that move together,<br>Feet that run on willing errands!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Smiling answered Hiawatha:<br>'In the land of the Dacotahs<br>Lives the Arrow-maker's daughter,<br>Minnehaha, Laughing Water,<br>Handsomest of all the women.<br>I will bring her to your wigwam,<br>She shall run upon your errands,<br>Be your starlight, moonlight, firelight,<br>Be the sunlight of my people!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Still dissuading said Nokomis:<br>'Bring not to my lodge a stranger<br>From the land of the Dacotahs!<br>Very fierce are the Dacotahs,<br>Often is there war between us,<br>There are feuds yet unforgotten,<br>Wounds that ache and still may open!</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Laughing answered Hiawatha:<br>'For that reason, if no other,<br>Would I wed the fair Dacotah,<br>That our tribes might be united,<br>That old feuds might be forgotten,<br>And old wounds be healed forever!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Thus departed Hiawatha<br>To the land of the Dacotahs,<br>To the land of handsome women;<br>Striding over moor and meadow,<br>Through interminable forests,<br>Through uninterrupted silence.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">With his moccasins of magic,<br>At each stride a mile he measured;<br>Yet the way seemed long before him,<br>And his heart outran his footsteps;<br>And he journeyed without resting,<br>Till he heard the cataract's laughter,<br>Heard the Falls of Minnehaha<br>Calling to him through the silence.<br>'Pleasant is the sound!' he murmured,<br>'Pleasant is the voice that calls me!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">On the outskirts of the forests,<br>'Twixt the shadow and the sunshine,<br>Herds of fallow deer were feeding,<br>But they saw not Hiawatha;<br>To his bow be whispered, 'Fail not!'<br>To his arrow whispered, 'Swerve not!'<br>Sent it singing on its errand,<br>To the red heart of the roebuck;<br>Threw the deer across his shoulder,<br>And sped forward without pausing.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">At the doorway of his wigwam<br>Sat his ancient Arrow-maker,<br>In the land of the Dacotahs,<br>Making arrow-heads of jasper,<br>Arrow-heads of chalcedony.<br>At his side, in all her beauty,<br>Sat the lovely Minnehaha,<br>Sat his daughter, Laughing Water,<br>Plaiting mats of flags and rushes;<br>Of the past the old man's thoughts were,<br>And the maiden's of the future.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">He was thinking, as he sat there,<br>Of the days when with such arrows<br>He had struck the deer and bison,<br>On the Muskoday, the meadow;<br>Shot the wild goose, flying southward,<br>On the wing, the clamorous Wawa;<br>Thinking of the great war-parties,<br>How they came to buy his arrows,<br>Could not fight without his arrows.<br>Ah, no more such noble warriors<br>Could be found on earth as they were!<br>Now the men were all like women,<br>Only used their tongues for weapons!</div><div style="margin:10px 0">She was thinking of a hunter,<br>From another tribe and country,<br>Young and tall and very handsome,<br>Who one morning, in the Spring-time,<br>Came to buy her father's arrows,<br>Lingered long about the doorway,<br>Sat and rested in the wigwam,<br>Looking back as he departed.<br>She had heard her father praise him,<br>Praise his courage and his wisdom;<br>Would he come again for arrows<br>To the Falls of Minnehaha?<br>On the mat her hands lay idle,<br>And her eyes were very dreamy.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Through their thoughts they heard a footstep,<br>Heard a rustling in the branches,<br>And with glowing cheek and forehead,<br>With the deer upon his shoulders,<br>Suddenly from out the woodlands<br>Hiawatha stood before them.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Straight the ancient Arrow-maker<br>Looked up gravely from his labor,<br>Laid aside the unfinished arrow,<br>Bade him enter at the doorway,<br>Saying, as he rose to meet him,<br>'Hiawatha, you are welcome!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">At the feet of Laughing Water<br>Hiawatha laid his burden,<br>Threw the red deer from his shoulders;<br>And the maiden looked up at him,<br>Looked up from her mat of rushes,<br>Said with gentle look and accent,<br>'You are welcome, Hiawatha!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Very spacious was the wigwam,<br>Made of deer-skins dressed and whitened,<br>With the Gods of the Dacotahs<br>Drawn and painted on its curtains,<br>And so tall the doorway, hardly<br>Hiawatha stooped to enter,<br>Hardly touched his eagle-feathers<br>As he entered at the doorway.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then uprose the Laughing Water,<br>From the ground fair Minnehaha,<br>Laid aside her mat unfinished,<br>Brought forth food and set before them,<br>Water brought them from the brooklet,<br>Gave them food in earthen vessels,<br>Gave them drink in bowls of bass-wood,<br>Listened while the guest was speaking,<br>Listened while her father answered,<br>But not once her lips she opened,<br>Not a single word she uttered.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Yes, as in a dream she listened<br>To the words of Hiawatha,<br>As he talked of old Nokomis,<br>Who had nursed him in his childhood,<br>As he told of his companions,<br>Chibiabos, the musician,<br>And the very strong man, Kwasind,<br>And of happiness and plenty<br>In the land of the Ojibways,<br>In the pleasant land and peaceful.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'After many years of warfare,<br>Many years of strife and bloodshed,<br>There is peace between the Ojibways<br>And the tribe of the Dacotahs.'<br>Thus continued Hiawatha,<br>And then added, speaking slowly,<br>'That this peace may last forever,<br>And our hands be clasped more closely,<br>And our hearts be more united,<br>Give me as my wife this maiden,<br>Minnehaha, Laughing Water,<br>Loveliest of Dacotah women!</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And the ancient Arrow-maker<br>Paused a moment ere he answered,<br>Smoked a little while in silence,<br>Looked at Hiawatha proudly,<br>Fondly looked at Laughing Water,<br>And made answer very gravely:<br>'Yes, if Minnehaha wishes;<br>Let your heart speak, Minnehaha!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And the lovely Laughing Water<br>Seemed more lovely as she stood there,<br>Neither willing nor reluctant,<br>As she went to Hiawatha,<br>Softly took the seat beside him,<br>While she said, and blushed to say it,<br>'I will follow you, my husband!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">This was Hiawatha's wooing!<br>Thus it was he won the daughter<br>Of the ancient Arrow-maker,<br>In the land of the Dacotahs!</div><div style="margin:10px 0">From the wigwam he departed,<br>Leading with him Laughing Water;<br>Hand in hand they went together,<br>Through the woodland and the meadow,<br>Left the old man standing lonely<br>At the doorway of his wigwam,<br>Heard the Falls of Minnehaha<br>Calling to them from the distance,<br>Crying to them from afar off,<br>'Fare thee well, O Minnehaha!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And the ancient Arrow-maker<br>Turned again unto his labor,<br>Sat down by his sunny doorway,<br>Murmuring to himself, and saying:<br>'Thus it is our daughters leave us,<br>Those we love, and those who love us!<br>Just when they have learned to help us,<br>When we are old and lean upon them,<br>Comes a youth with flaunting feathers,<br>With his flute of reeds, a stranger<br>Wanders piping through the village,<br>Beckons to the fairest maiden,<br>And she follows where he leads her,<br>Leaving all things for the stranger!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Pleasant was the journey homeward,<br>Through interminable forests,<br>Over meadow, over mountain,<br>Over river, hill, and hollow.<br>Short it seemed to Hiawatha,<br>Though they journeyed very slowly,<br>Though his pace he checked and slackened<br>To the steps of Laughing Water.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Over wide and rushing rivers<br>In his arms he bore the maiden;<br>Light he thought her as a feather,<br>As the plume upon his head-gear;<br>Cleared the tangled pathway for her,<br>Bent aside the swaying branches,<br>Made at night a lodge of branches,<br>And a bed with boughs of hemlock,<br>And a fire before the doorway<br>With the dry cones of the pine-tree.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">All the travelling winds went with them,<br>O'er the meadows, through the forest;<br>All the stars of night looked at them,<br>Watched with sleepless eyes their slumber;<br>From his ambush in the oak-tree<br>Peeped the squirrel, Adjidaumo,<br>Watched with eager eyes the lovers;<br>And the rabbit, the Wabasso,<br>Scampered from the path before them,<br>Peering, peeping from his burrow,<br>Sat erect upon his haunches,<br>Watched with curious eyes the lovers.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Pleasant was the journey homeward!<br>All the birds sang loud and sweetly<br>Songs of happiness and heart's-ease;<br>Sang the bluebird, the Owaissa,<br>'Happy are you, Hiawatha,<br>Having such a wife to love you!'<br>Sang the robin, the Opechee,<br>'Happy are you, Laughing Water,<br>Having such a noble husband!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">From the sky the sun benignant<br>Looked upon them through the branches,<br>Saying to them, 'O my children,<br>Love is sunshine, hate is shadow,<br>Life is checkered shade and sunshine,<br>Rule by love, O Hiawatha!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">From the sky the moon looked at them,<br>Filled the lodge with mystic splendors,<br>Whispered to them, 'O my children,<br>Day is restless, night is quiet,<br>Man imperious, woman feeble;<br>Half is mine, although I follow;<br>Rule by patience, Laughing Water!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Thus it was they journeyed homeward;<br>Thus it was that Hiawatha<br>To the lodge of old Nokomis<br>Brought the moonlight, starlight, firelight,<br>Brought the sunshine of his people,<br>Minnehaha, Laughing Water,<br>Handsomest of all the women<br>In the land of the Dacotahs,<br>In the land of handsome women.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Henry+Wadsworth+Longfellow">Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</a><div class=q>
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<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=409780" data-title="The Song of Hiawatha X: Hiawatha's Wooing de Henry Wadsworth Longfellow" data-description="'As unto the bow the cord is,
So unto the man is woman,
Though she bends him, she obeys him,
Though she draws him, yet she follows,
Useless each without the other!'

Thus the youthful Hiawatha
Said within himself and pondered,
Much perplexed by va..."></div>
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