I watch the mirthful breezes
Embrace them wantonly. . ."
Wenonah later was courted by the caressing West Wind, and becomes pregnant. Wenonah, as a young moon-goddess, has the beauty of the moonlight. Nokomis warns her of the dangerous courtship of Mudjekeewis, the West Wind. But Wenonah allows herself to become infatuated, and conceives from the breath of the wind, from the [Greek: pneu~ma], a son, our hero.
"And the West-Wind came at evening,
Found the beautiful Wenonah,
Lying there amid the lilies,
Wooed her with his words of sweetness,
Wooed her with his soft caresses,
Till she bore a son in sorrow,
Bore a son of love and sorrow."
Fertilization through the breath of the spirit is already a well-known precedent for us. The star or comet plainly belongs to the birth scene as a libido symbol; Nokomis, too, comes to earth as a shooting star. Mörike's sweet poetic phantasy has devised a similar divine origin.
"And she who bore me in her womb,
And gave me food and clothing.
She was a maid—a wild, brown maid,
Who looked on men with loathing.
"She fleered at them and laughed out loud,
And bade no suitor tarry;
'I'd rather be the Wind's own bride
Than have a man and marry.'
