Мир поэзии Поиск книг    О проекте    Обратная связь    Размещение рекламы

Longfellow Henry Wadsworth
«The Song of Hiawatha»

Главная страница / Longfellow Henry Wadsworth «The Song of Hiawatha»
and kindred,From what old, ancestral Totem,Be it Eagle, Bear, or Beaver,They descended, this we know not,Only know they are our fathers."Face to face we speak together,But we cannot speak when absent,Cannot send our voices from usTo the friends that dwell afar off;Cannot send a secret message,But the bearer learns our secret,May pervert it, may betray it,May reveal it unto others."Thus said Hiawatha, walkingIn the solitary forest,Pondering, musing in the forest,On the welfare of his people.From his pouch he took his colors,Took his paints of different colors,On the smooth bark of a birch-treePainted many shapes and figures,Wonderful and mystic figures,And each figure had a meaning,Each some word or thought suggested.Gitche Manito the Mighty,He, the Master of Life, was paintedAs an egg, with points projectingTo the four winds of the heavens.Everywhere is the Great Spirit,Was the meaning of this symbol.Gitche Manito the Mighty,He the dreadful Spirit of Evil,As a serpent was depicted,As Kenabeek, the great serpent.Very crafty, very cunning,Is the creeping Spirit of Evil,Was the meaning of this symbol.Life and Death he drew as circles,Life was white, but Death was darkened;Sun and moon and stars he painted,Man and beast, and fish and reptile,Forests, mountains, lakes, and rivers.For the earth he drew a straight line,For the sky a bow above it;White the space between for daytime,Filled with little stars for night-time;On the left a point for sunrise,On the right a point for sunset,On the top a point for noontide,And for rain and cloudy weatherWaving lines descending from it.Footprints pointing towards a wigwamWere a sign of invitation,Were a sign of guests assembling;Bloody hands with palms upliftedWere a symbol of destruction,Were a hostile sign and symbol.All these things did HiawathaShow unto his wondering people,And interpreted their meaning,And he said: "Behold, your grave-postsHave no mark, no sign, nor symbol,Go and paint them all with figures;Each one
Назад  

стр.87

  Вперед
Наши спонсоры:
Назад  

стр.87

  Вперед