CANTO FIFTH.
STANZAXI.
Brother, the spirit of my son is gone;I burned my lodge to speak my mighty grief.
Brother, the spirit of my son is gone;I burned my lodge to speak my mighty grief.
Brother, the spirit of my son is gone;I burned my lodge to speak my mighty grief.
Brother, the spirit of my son is gone;
I burned my lodge to speak my mighty grief.
Williams says, “The chiefe and most aged peaceable father of the countrey, Canonnicus, having buried his sonne, he burned his own palace, and all his goods in it, (amongst them to a great value), in a solemn remembrance of his son, and in a kind of humble expiation to the gods, who (as they believe) had taken away his sonne from him.”
I am thy father, thou shalt be my son.
I am thy father, thou shalt be my son.
I am thy father, thou shalt be my son.
I am thy father, thou shalt be my son.
See the extract from Williams’ testimony, innote to stanzaxxxiii, of cantoiv.
STANZAXXIV.
The sable fox-hide did his loins enclose—The sable fox-tail formed his nodding crest.
The sable fox-hide did his loins enclose—The sable fox-tail formed his nodding crest.
The sable fox-hide did his loins enclose—The sable fox-tail formed his nodding crest.
The sable fox-hide did his loins enclose—
The sable fox-tail formed his nodding crest.
The Indians had a superstitious regard for the black fox. Williams says, they considered it a Manittoo—a god, spirit, or divine power.
STANZAXXXII.
Hast thou forgot, when, by Cohannet’s stream,To curse the strangers every charm was tried.
Hast thou forgot, when, by Cohannet’s stream,To curse the strangers every charm was tried.
Hast thou forgot, when, by Cohannet’s stream,To curse the strangers every charm was tried.
Hast thou forgot, when, by Cohannet’s stream,
To curse the strangers every charm was tried.
“But before I pass on, let the reader take notice of a very remarkable particular which was made known to the planters at Plymouth some short space after their arrival; that the Indians, before they came to the English to make friendship with them, got all the Pawaws in the country, who, for three days together, in a horrid and devilish manner, did curse and execrate themwith their conjurations, which assembly and service they held in a dark and dismal swamp.”—N. E. Memorial.
How I appeared, and, by the embers’ gleam,To the hard rock my lance’s point applied,And scored my mandate.
How I appeared, and, by the embers’ gleam,To the hard rock my lance’s point applied,And scored my mandate.
How I appeared, and, by the embers’ gleam,To the hard rock my lance’s point applied,And scored my mandate.
How I appeared, and, by the embers’ gleam,
To the hard rock my lance’s point applied,
And scored my mandate.
The inscriptions on the rocks by Taunton river have afforded a subject of much speculation to the antiquary. It would not be strange if the Indians ascribed to them a supernatural origin.
STANZAXLII.
An odor, strange, though not offensive, spreadAbout him, as he near and nearer drew;
An odor, strange, though not offensive, spreadAbout him, as he near and nearer drew;
An odor, strange, though not offensive, spreadAbout him, as he near and nearer drew;
An odor, strange, though not offensive, spread
About him, as he near and nearer drew;
If my recollection serves me, Dr. Good, in his Book of Nature, supposes that the seeming power of fascination in serpents may arise from an odor emitted by them. The tale of the Hunter and the Rattlesnake, in the New England Legends, must furnish the author with a justification for the use which he has made of this serpent in the text; and it ought also to be added, that his description of the serpent, in the act of exercising his mysterious powers, is not essentially different from that in the tale to which he has referred.
STANZALXIII.
Here stretched Aquidnay tow’rd the ocean blue.
Here stretched Aquidnay tow’rd the ocean blue.
Here stretched Aquidnay tow’rd the ocean blue.
Here stretched Aquidnay tow’rd the ocean blue.
Aquidnay is the Indian name for Rhode Island. This name is variously written—sometimes Aquidneck, sometimes Aquetnet, and sometimes Aquidnet. Winthrop generally writes it Aquidnay, and the author has chosen so to write it, for no other reason, than that the sound is a little more agreeable. There is some reason to conclude that Aquetnet is nearer its true etymology. See the following note.
STANZALXX.
Another sachem swaysThe Isle of peace.
Another sachem swaysThe Isle of peace.
Another sachem swaysThe Isle of peace.
Another sachem sways
The Isle of peace.
Aquenesignified, in the Narraganset dialect, peace. It is possible that Aquetnet, as the name of this island has been sometimeswritten, may be its derivative;etis a termination usually denoting place. But whether this be or be not its etymology, the designation is not inapplicable, since the island must have been a place of security against the roving Maquas, Pequots, Tarrateens, &c.
STANZALXXII.
There Sowams gleamed,—if names the muse aright,Till in the forest far his glories fade;
There Sowams gleamed,—if names the muse aright,Till in the forest far his glories fade;
There Sowams gleamed,—if names the muse aright,Till in the forest far his glories fade;
There Sowams gleamed,—if names the muse aright,
Till in the forest far his glories fade;
Calender intimates that Sowams is properly the name of a river, where the two Swansey rivers meet and run together for near a mile, when they empty themselves in the Narraganset Bay. Sowamset may, therefore, indicate some town or other place on the banks of the river. These names have been used by some as synonymous.