Analysis of The Windigo
William Henry Drummond 1854 – 1907
Go easy wit' de paddle, an' steady wit' de
oar
Geev rudder to de bes' man you got among
de crew,
Let ev'ry wan be quiet, don't let dem sing no
more
W'en you see de islan' risin' out of Grande
Lac Manitou
Above us on de sky dere, de summer cloud
may float
Aroun' us on de water de ripple never show,
But somet'ing down below us can rock de
stronges' boat,
W'en we 're comin' near de islan' of de
spirit Windigo!
De carcajou may breed dere, an' otter sweem
de poole
De moosh-rat mak' de mud house, an' beaver
buil' hees dam
An' beeges' Injun hunter on all de Tête de
Boule
Will never set hees trap dere from spring
to summer tam.
But he 'll bring de fines' presen' from upper
St. Maurice
De loup marin an' black-fox from off de
Hodson Bay
An' hide dem on de islan' an' smoke de pipe
of peace
So Windigo will help heem w'en he travel
far away.
We shaintee on dat islan' on de winter seexty-
nine
If you look you see de clearin' aroun' de
Coo Coo Cache,
An' pleasan' place enough too among de spruce
an' pine
If foreman on de shaintee is n't Cyprien
Palache.
Beeg feller, alway watchin' on hees leetle
weasel eye,
De gang dey can't do not'ing but he see dem
purty quick
Wit' hees 'Hi dere, w'at you doin' ?' ev'ry
tam he 's passin' by
An' de bad word he was usin' , wall! it offen
mak' me sick.
An' he carry silver w'issle wit' de chain aroun'
hees neck
For fear he mebbe los' it, an' ev'ry body say
He mus' buy it from de devil w'en he 's
passin' on Kebeck
But if it 's true dat story, I dunno how
moche he pay.
Dere 's plaintee on de shaintee can sing lak
rossignol
Pet Clancy play de fiddle, an' Jimmie Char-
bonneau
Was bring hees concertina from below St.
Fereol
So we get some leetle pleasure till de long,
long winter go.
But if we start up singin' affer supper on de
camp
'Par derriere chez ma tante,' or 'Mattawa
wishtay,'
De boss he 'll come along den, an' put heem
out de lamp,
An' only stop hees swearin' w'en we all go
marche coucher.
We 've leetle boy dat winter from Po-po-lo-be-
lang
Hees fader an' hees moder dey're bote
A-ben-a-kee
An' he 's comin' , Injun Johnnie, wit' some
man de lumber gang
Was fin' heem nearly starvin' above on Lac
Souris.
De ole man an' de woman is tryin' pass de Soo
W'en water 's high on spring tam, an' of
course dey 're gettin' drown',
For even smartes' Injun should n't fool wit'
birch canoe,
W'ere de reever lak toboggan on de hill is
runnin' down.
So dey lef' de leetle feller all alone away up
dere
Till lumber gang is ketchin' him an' bring
him on de Cache,
But better if he 's stayin' wit' de wolf an' wit'
de bear
Dan come an' tak' hees chances wit' Cyprien
Palache.
I wonder how he stan' it, w'y he never run
away
For Cyprien lak neeger he is treat heem all
de sam'
An' if he 's wantin' Johnnie on de night or on
de day
God help heem if dat w'issle she was below
de secon'tam!
De boy he don 't say not'ing, no wan never see
heem cry
He 's got de Injun in heem, you can see it
on de face,
An' only for us feller an' de cook, he 'll surely
die
Long before de winter 's over, long before
we lef' de place,
But I see heem hidin' somet'ing wan morning
by de shore
So firse tam I was passin' I scrape away de
snow
An' it 's rabbit skin he 's ketchin' on de swamp
de day before,
Leetle Injun Johnnie 's workin' on de spirit
Windigo.
December's come in stormy, an' de snow-dreef
fill de road
Can only see de chimley an' roof of our
cabane,
An' stronges' team on stable fin' it plaintee
heavy load
Haulin' sleigh an' two t'ree pine log t'roo
de wood an' beeg savane.
An' I travel off wan day me, wit' Cyprien
Palache
Explorin' for new timber, w'en de win' be-
gin to blow,
So we hurry on de snow-shoe for de camp on
Coo Coo Cache
If de nor' eas' storm is comin', was de bes'
place we dunno-
An' we 're gettin' safe enough dere wit' de
storm close on our heel,
But w'en our belt we loosen for takin' off de
coat
De foreman commence screamin' an' mon Dieu
it mak' us feel
Lak he got t'ree t'ousan' devil all fightin' on
hees t'roat.
Cyprien is los' hees w'issle, Cyprien is los' hees
chain
Injun Johnnie he mus' fin' it, even if de win'
is high
He can never show hese'f on de Coo Coo
Cache again
Till he brin
Scheme | abcdebxaxfeafac ghigahjg ikalxkxl amaNxmeN hogpboqp exlxcxl rsxexhxe atxagteb auaagurx dvwxdxw xbjnxxeN qlsgyleg aoxzaobz jbaexbxc v1 iea1 be enaEyn2 e a3 afa3 yf 2 x4 o dx4 |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111011011 1 11011111101 11 11111011111 1 1001111110111 11 01111111101 11 111110110101 111011111 11 100111111111 101 111111101 11 1111111110 1011 11110111111 1 110111111 1101 1111111110 101 1110111111 101 1111111111 11 111111001110 101 1111111101 1 111111111 111 1110110111 11 1101111111 1 11011111 101 11111111111 11 11111001111 11111 11111111110 111 11101011111 11 11111111101 11111110100111 111 111111101011 111 111111111 100 11011101101 01 11100101011 1 1111110111 1101 11111111011 1 1111111 1 11111011111 111 1101111001111 11 111111011111 1 1101110111 0101 111111011 11101 1111010111 10 111111011111 1001101111111 11111 1101111111 101 100111010101111 11 1111110101011 1 110111111 1111 110111111111 11 111111011 1 110111110011101 01 111111111 11 111111011111 11 1111111101 11 1111111111101 11 11111011111 111 11011101111110 1 101110110101 1111 111111110 111 11111111011 1 111101111111 1101 1110111110 1 01010101111 111 11011111110 1 111110111 101 111111111 11111 1110111111 1 111101001111 111 111011111111 111 1111111111 1101 1111101111 111101 110011011101111 1 110011111 1111 11111110111 111 111111111 1 110111110111 11 1110111111 101 111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 4,011 |
Words | 833 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 19 |
Stanza Lengths | 15, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7, 8, 8, 8, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 4, 3 |
Lines Amount | 148 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 161 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 4:19 min read
- 44 Views
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"The Windigo" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40748/the-windigo>.
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