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AN OMAHA LOVE-SONG.
The words of many love-songs refer to the dawn, the time of the day when they are usually sung; but this reference is not a literal one. It figures the dawn of love in the breast of the singer. The Indian stands so close to Nature that he sees his own moods reflected or interpreted in hers.
The Indian words of this song, freely translated,
are: —
As the day comes forth from night
So I come forth to seek thee. Lift thine eyes and behold him
Who comes with the day to thee.
Miss Edna Dean Proctor has rendered into charming verse the scene and the feeling of the hour, giving us an Indian love-song in its entirety. By her courtesy I am able to reproduce here her poem written some years ago, on hearing the melody which I had then recently transcribed during one of my sojourns among the Omaha Indians: —
Fades the star of morning,
West winds gently blow, Soft the pine-trees murmur,
Soft the waters flow. 49 |
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