Page:The Cambridge History of American Literature, v4.djvu/215

Amerind Song Sequences 627 The Mide ritual is divided into four parts, each representing a degree of spiritual progress in the initiate, who must be letter- perfect in the songs. Each sequence is introduced by a recita- tive of instruction. Each song consists of a single sentence of recognizable poetic measure, repeated as many times as is necessary to complete the appropriate rhythm, with slight melodic variations. When we say that the form of the Mid6 songs is Imagistic, we mean that each one of them states a thing apprehended through the external sense; something seen, heard, or done, enclosing a spiritual experience as in the thin film of a bubble. Thus, the literal Mide song says : The sky We have lost it. But the shape of the song determined by the drum is as follows: Plate II oir rr cj'iu'r LL/rr CJ-CJT the words and additional meaningless syllables being repeated as often as necessary to complete it. The full content of this combination of words and rhythm, which is directed toward the acquirement of magic power over the weather, would be some- thing like this : Darkness devours our sky ! Toward its obscuring clouds We extend our hands For the favour of clear weather. By our power we attain it ! Though the idea of reaching toward the sky is not to be found in the words, it is plainly indicated in the ideographic key by a hand extended toward a cloud. If we assume that the office of the drum in this song is merely to unify, an office that in our sort of verse is served by the conventions of the printed page, we may safely discard the drum measure in translating, as is here done. It would also be