To the Driving Cloud
Gloomy and dark art thou, O chief of the mighty Omahas;Gloomy and dark as the driving cloud, whose name thou hast taken!Wrapt in thy scarlet blanket, I see thee stalk through the city'sNarrow and populous streets, as once by the margin of riversStalked those birds unknown, that have left us only their footprints.What, in a few short years, will remain of thy race but the footprints?
How canst thou walk these streets, who hast trod the green turf of the prairies!How canst thou breathe this air, who hast breathed the sweet air of the mountains!Ah! 't is in vain that with lordly looks of disdain thou dost challengeLooks of disdain in return, and question these walls and these pavements,Claiming the soil for thy hunting-grounds, while down-trodden millionsStarve in the garrets of Europe, and cry from its caverns that they, too,Have been created heirs of the earth, and claim its division!
Back, then, back to thy woods in the regions west of the Wabash!There as a monarch thou reignest. In autumn the leaves of the maplePave the floors of thy palace-halls with gold, and in summerPine-trees waft through its chambers the odorous breath of their branches.There thou art strong and great, a hero, a tamer of horses!There thou chasest the stately stag on the banks of the Elkhorn,Or by the roar of the Running-Water, or where the OmahaCalls thee, and leaps through the wild ravine like a brave of theBlackfeet!
Hark! what murmurs arise from the heart of those mountainous deserts?Is it the cry of the Foxes and Crows, or the mighty Behemoth,Who, unharmed, on his tusks once caught the bolts of the thunder,And now lurks in his lair to destroy the race of the red man?Far more fatal to thee and thy race than the Crows and the Foxes,Far more fatal to thee and thy race than the tread of Behemoth,Lo! the big thunder-canoe, that steadily breasts the Missouri'sMerciless current! and yonder, afar on the prairies, the camp-firesGleam through the night; and the cloud of dust in the gray of the daybreakMarks not the buffalo's track, nor the Mandan's dexterous horse-race;It is a caravan, whitening the desert where dwell the Camanches!Ha! how the breath of these Saxons and Celts, like the blast of the east-wind,Drifts evermore to the west the scanty smokes of thy wigwams!
Words in this poem 15
- omahas n.
- A tribe of Indians who inhabited the south side of the Missouri River. They are now partly civilized and occupy a reservation in Nebraska.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- populous a.
- Abounding in people; full of inhabitants; containing many inhabitants in proportion to the extent of the country. [L. populosus, fr. populus people: cf. F. populeux.]
- pave n.
- The pavement. Nymphe du pavé ([A low euphemism.] [F., from paver to pave. See Pave.]
- waft v. t.
- To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]
- tamer n.
- One who tames or subdues.
- blackfeet n.
- A tribe of North American Indians formerly inhabiting the country from the upper Missouri River to the Saskatchewan, but now much reduced in numbers.
- behemoth n.
- An animal, probably the hippopotamus, described in Job xl. 15- 24. [Heb. behem, fr. Egyptian P-ehe-maut hippopotamus.]
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
- whitening n.
- The act or process of making or becoming white.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Driving Cloud is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, To the Driving Cloud, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/to-the-driving-cloud.html, id L17533.
Form and metre
To the Driving Cloud is 35 lines in 4 stanzas. 79% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.1 syllables. 22 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 A-AABB omahasA · taken · city'sA · riversA · footprintsB · footprintsB
- 4 -A---A------- deserts · behemothA · thunder · man · foxes · behemothA · missouri's · fires · daybreak · race · camanches · wind · wigwams
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Gloomy and dark art thou, O chief of the mighty Omahas; | 15 | /˘········/˘/˘· |
| Gloomy and dark as the driving cloud, whose name thou hast taken! | 15 | /˘····/˘·····/˘ |
| Wrapt in thy scarlet blanket, I see thee stalk through the city's | 15 | ···/˘/˘······/˘ |
| Narrow and populous streets, as once by the margin of rivers | 15 | /˘·/˘·····/˘·/˘ |
| Stalked those birds unknown, that have left us only their footprints. | 14 | ···˘/····/˘·/· |
| What, in a few short years, will remain of thy race but the footprints? | 16 | ·······˘/·····/· |
| How canst thou walk these streets, who hast trod the green turf of the prairies! | 16 | ··············/˘ |
| How canst thou breathe this air, who hast breathed the sweet air of the mountains! | 16 | ··············/˘ |
| Ah! 't is in vain that with lordly looks of disdain thou dost challenge | 17 | ·······/˘··˘/··/˘ |
| Looks of disdain in return, and question these walls and these pavements, | 16 | ··˘/·˘/·/˘····/˘ |
| Claiming the soil for thy hunting-grounds, while down-trodden millions | 15 | /˘····/˘···/˘/˘ |
| Starve in the garrets of Europe, and cry from its caverns that they, too, | 17 | ···/˘·/˘····/˘··· |
| Have been created heirs of the earth, and claim its division! | 15 | ··˘/˘·······˘/˘ |
| Back, then, back to thy woods in the regions west of the Wabash! | 15 | ········/˘···/˘ |
| There as a monarch thou reignest. In autumn the leaves of the maple | 17 | ···/··/˘·/˘····/˘ |
| Pave the floors of thy palace-halls with gold, and in summer | 14 | ·····/˘·····/˘ |
| Pine-trees waft through its chambers the odorous breath of their branches. | 15 | ·····/˘·/˘···/˘ |
| There thou art strong and great, a hero, a tamer of horses! | 15 | ·······/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| There thou chasest the stately stag on the banks of the Elkhorn, | 15 | ··/˘·/˘······/· |
| Or by the roar of the Running-Water, or where the Omaha | 16 | ······/˘/˘···/˘· |
| Calls thee, and leaps through the wild ravine like a brave of the | 14 | ·······˘/····· |
| Blackfeet! | 2 | /˘ |
| Hark! what murmurs arise from the heart of those mountainous deserts? | 15 | ··/˘˘/·····/˘/˘ |
| Is it the cry of the Foxes and Crows, or the mighty Behemoth, | 17 | ······/˘····/˘/˘˘ |
| Who, unharmed, on his tusks once caught the bolts of the thunder, | 14 | ·˘/·········/˘ |
| And now lurks in his lair to destroy the race of the red man? | 15 | ·······˘/······ |
| Far more fatal to thee and thy race than the Crows and the Foxes, | 16 | ··/˘··········/˘ |
| Far more fatal to thee and thy race than the tread of Behemoth, | 16 | ··/˘·········˘/˘ |
| Lo! the big thunder-canoe, that steadily breasts the Missouri's | 15 | ···/˘˘/·/˘··˘/˘ |
| Merciless current! and yonder, afar on the prairies, the camp-fires | 16 | /˘/˘·/˘˘/··/˘··/ |
| Gleam through the night; and the cloud of dust in the gray of the daybreak | 16 | ··············/· |
| Marks not the buffalo's track, nor the Mandan's dexterous horse-race; | 16 | ···/˘······/˘˘·· |
| It is a caravan, whitening the desert where dwell the Camanches! | 17 | ···/˘·/˘·/˘······ |
| Ha! how the breath of these Saxons and Celts, like the blast of the east-wind, | 17 | ······/˘········· |
| Drifts evermore to the west the scanty smokes of thy wigwams! | 15 | ·/˘·····/˘···/˘ |
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