The Indian Girl's Lament
An Indian girl was sitting whereHer lover, slain in battle, slept;Her maiden veil, her own black hair,Came down o'er eyes that wept;And wildly, in her woodland tongue,This sad and simple lay she sung:
"I've pulled away the shrubs that grewToo close above thy sleeping head,And broke the forest boughs that threwTheir shadows o'er thy bed,That, shining from the sweet south-west,The sunbeams might rejoice thy rest.
"It was a weary, weary roadThat led thee to the pleasant coast,Where thou, in his serene abode,Hast met thy father's ghost:Where everlasting autumn liesOn yellow woods and sunny skies.
"Twas I the broidered mocsen made,That shod thee for that distant land;'Twas I thy bow and arrows laidBeside thy still cold hand;Thy bow in many a battle bent,Thy arrows never vainly sent.
"With wampum belts I crossed thy breast,And wrapped thee in the bison's hide,And laid the food that pleased thee best,In plenty, by thy side,And decked thee bravely, as becameA warrior of illustrious name.
"Thou'rt happy now, for thou hast passedThe long dark journey of the grave,And in the land of light, at last,Hast joined the good and brave;Amid the flushed and balmy air,The bravest and the loveliest there.
"Yet, oft to thine own Indian maidEven there thy thoughts will earthward stray,--To her who sits where thou wert laid,And weeps the hours away,Yet almost can her grief forget,To think that thou dost love her yet.
"And thou, by one of those still lakesThat in a shining cluster lie,On which the south wind scarcely breaksThe image of the sky,A bower for thee and me hast madeBeneath the many-coloured shade.
"And thou dost wait and watch to meetMy spirit sent to join the blessed,And, wondering what detains my feetFrom the bright land of rest,Dost seem, in every sound, to hearThe rustling of my footsteps near."
Words in this poem
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- wampum n.
- Beads made of shells, used by the North American Indians as money, and also wrought into belts, etc., as an ornament. [North American Indian wampum, wompam, from the Mass. wómpi, Del. wape, white.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- balmy a.
- Having the qualities of balm; odoriferous; aromatic; assuaging; soothing; refreshing; mild.
- earthward adv.
- Toward the earth; -- opposed to heavenward or skyward.
- coloured a.
- Having color; tinged; dyed; painted; stained.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Indian Girl's Lament is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by William Cullen Bryant, Project Gutenberg ebook #16341; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Cullen Bryant, The Indian Girl's Lament, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/the-indian-girl-s-lament.html, id L07262.
Form and metre
The Indian Girl's Lament is 54 lines in 9 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCC whereA · sleptB · hairA · weptB · tongueC · sungC
- 2 ABABCC grewA · headB · threwA · bedB · westC · restC
- 3 ABABCC roadA · coastB · abodeA · ghostB · liesC · skiesC
- 4 ABABCC madeA · landB · laidA · handB · bentC · sentC
- 5 ABABCC breastA · hideB · bestA · sideB · becameC · nameC
- 6 ABABCC passedA · graveB · lastA · braveB · airC · thereC
- 7 ABABCC maidA · strayB · laidA · awayB · forgetC · yetC
- 8 ABABCC lakesA · lieB · breaksA · skyB · madeC · shadeC
- 9 ABABCC meetA · blessedB · feetA · restB · hearC · nearC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| An Indian girl was sitting where | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Her lover, slain in battle, slept; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Her maiden veil, her own black hair, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Came down o'er eyes that wept; | 6 | ······ |
| And wildly, in her woodland tongue, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| This sad and simple lay she sung: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "I've pulled away the shrubs that grew | 9 | ··˘˘/···· |
| Too close above thy sleeping head, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And broke the forest boughs that threw | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Their shadows o'er thy bed, | 6 | ·/···· |
| That, shining from the sweet south-west, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The sunbeams might rejoice thy rest. | 8 | ·/··˘/·· |
| "It was a weary, weary road | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That led thee to the pleasant coast, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where thou, in his serene abode, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Hast met thy father's ghost: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Where everlasting autumn lies | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| On yellow woods and sunny skies. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "Twas I the broidered mocsen made, | 9 | ·····˘··· |
| That shod thee for that distant land; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Twas I thy bow and arrows laid | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beside thy still cold hand; | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Thy bow in many a battle bent, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Thy arrows never vainly sent. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| "With wampum belts I crossed thy breast, | 9 | ·/˘···˘·· |
| And wrapped thee in the bison's hide, | 9 | ··˘···/˘· |
| And laid the food that pleased thee best, | 9 | ······˘·· |
| In plenty, by thy side, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And decked thee bravely, as became | 9 | ··˘·/˘·˘/ |
| A warrior of illustrious name. | 10 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘˘· |
| "Thou'rt happy now, for thou hast passed | 9 | ·/˘·····˘ |
| The long dark journey of the grave, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And in the land of light, at last, | 8 | ········ |
| Hast joined the good and brave; | 6 | ······ |
| Amid the flushed and balmy air, | 9 | ˘/··˘·/˘· |
| The bravest and the loveliest there. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| "Yet, oft to thine own Indian maid | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Even there thy thoughts will earthward stray,-- | 9 | /˘······· |
| To her who sits where thou wert laid, | 8 | ········ |
| And weeps the hours away, | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| Yet almost can her grief forget, | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| To think that thou dost love her yet. | 8 | ········ |
| "And thou, by one of those still lakes | 8 | ········ |
| That in a shining cluster lie, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| On which the south wind scarcely breaks | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The image of the sky, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A bower for thee and me hast made | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Beneath the many-coloured shade. | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| "And thou dost wait and watch to meet | 8 | ········ |
| My spirit sent to join the blessed, | 9 | ·/˘·····˘ |
| And, wondering what detains my feet | 9 | ·/˘˘·˘/·· |
| From the bright land of rest, | 6 | ······ |
| Dost seem, in every sound, to hear | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| The rustling of my footsteps near." | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.