Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FROM THE NORTHWEST COAST: YA-IHL'S SONG TO THE NORTH WIND, by ALICE HENSON ERNST


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FROM THE NORTHWEST COAST: YA-IHL'S SONG TO THE NORTH WIND, by                    
First Line: Ah-hi-yoo ...
Last Line: Cha-it-sc'l, little-brown-partridge, she whom I loved, is dead.
Subject(s): Native Americans - Religion


Ah-hi-yoo...
Hi-ya-woe..woe..woe..

Wail, wind of the bitter breath,
Wail over the lodge-poles of men;
Wail for the hidden grief of man, lost here between two worlds;
Woe.woe..woe, you scream
And it is woe you bring,
Blowing out from forbidden worlds,
From icy caverns beneath old glaciers.

From the third world you come, under the Country of Ghosts
Who walk mutely, heads downward, in that pallid world below earth;
From the Place of the Damned; place of unutterable cold, you rise,
Holding your breath while the lost ones heap nameless griefs on your wide arms.
Wailing you leave there; wailing with undying pain that must gnaw evermore at your breast.

It is the sound of your galloping white horses that men hear;
The beat of their hard hooves, the swish of their flying manes, the scream of their frightened
neigh;

Your panting breath blows high the snow as you rush across mountains;
In the little warm bays the spray flies before you, and men shudder at what you bring.

The Little People, the Pigmy People far to the north, who work always at forges,
They tried to warm you as you passed,
Blowing their fires at night till they flickered in sparkling flame high in the sky,
But you rushed past, driven by an ancient grief.

Blow, O Bat'l-et-lis, icy breath of the north;
Creep into my heart; it is colder than you;
I am your brother now: banished from warmth and rest..
Cha-it-sc'l, Little-Brown-Partridge, she whom I loved, is dead.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net