He, our Father,
He hath shown His mercy unto me.
In peace I walk the straight road.
PART TWO
Poetic Forms in American Indian Lyrics
POETIC FORMS IN AMERICAN INDIAN LYRICS
The true touchstone of primitive verse is familiarity with aboriginal life and manners. Let the observer sit among the American Indians under a starlit sky in the far spaces of the desert, or with his horizon bound by native forests, where only blazed trails penetrate the shadows—wherever these people sing, encircling a quiet fire. Not even the folk-songs of the colored race on their native plantations convey the sense of detached unreality that comes with hearing these evening songs of the red race.
When a thousand songs have beaten their way into his pulse, the listener may hope to understand both the form and the spirit of this verse. Only this certain recognition acquired by personal knowledge can direct him to sound judgments of the current pseudo-Indian verse. It is the only safe basis for comparison when studies lead far afield into the song-literature of many tribes. Many of us, however, cannot readily explore the remote places of aboriginal song. For such readers, fortunately, there is an increasing number of printed studies and of records gathered by our great museums.