Read “The River and I,” Chapter I, by the same author, to get his feeling for the Missouri.

The Return of the Ghost

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1. Not long Hugh let the lust of vengeance gnaw

Note that the first line of the division of the poem rhymes with the last line of the former. How often does this happen in the poem? This device keeps the mind on a stretch and so keeps interest alive. The same device is often used by the author in passing from one paragraph to the next.

5. I can not rest; for I am but the ghost etc.

The old obsession that he actually died by the Grand, though here used less seriously than in other places.

12. With such a blizzard of a face for me!

The epithet reveals how Hugh’s gray “ruined face” impressed men.

13. For he went grayer like a poplar tree, etc.