It is much to be regretted that the author of this amusing work should remain unknown.
Mr. H. Cholmondeley-Pennell's Puck on Pegasus (Chatto and Windus) has gone through so many editions, and is such a favourite book, that his imitation of Hiawatha is familiar to most people. The author has recently somewhat modified its opening lines. As thus altered it will shortly appear in a selection of Mr. H. C. Pennell's poems, and he has kindly allowed me to include it in this collection.
The original poem in Puck on Pegasus commenced thus:—
SONG OF IN-THE-WATER.
When the summer night descended,
Sleepy, on the White-witch water,
Came a lithe and lovely maiden,
Gazing on the silent water—
Gazing on the gleaming river,