By Anonymous
Summary: A clever poem, in the style and meter of Hiawatha, that tells of Superwatha ("Faster than a speeding arrow!"), who came to earth many moons ago.
Hi, this little discovery comes from a friend of mine who wished to remain anonymous, but I think it's very clever, and so if you have comments for the writer, send them to me at Zoomway@aol.com and I will forward them to him. Maybe he'll feel encouraged and step forward and contribute again. Thanks, and enjoy.
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The material to follow does not, strictly speaking, qualify for the fanfic list, for it's not an original piece of work. Still, I believe it is extremely important that it be brought to the attention of the readers of this list. It represents what is possibly one of the major literary discoveries of the latter part of this century. Because of the specifics of the unusual subject matter, this Lois & Clark fanfic list seems to be an appropriate place for its introduction.
By way of background, as one or two list readers know, I am a book collector. As a result, whenever I travel on business I spend much of my spare time rummaging through used book stores. Several months ago while on a business trip to an eastern US state I bought a rare technical book from the late 1800s. A pocket was attached to the inside rear cover of the book. The pocket was supposed to contain fold-out graphs and charts that supplemented the text. I took a quick glance at the sheets in the pocket. The top sheet was indeed a graph, and I checked no further before paying for the book and leaving the store.
Several days later, back home in California, I made a surprising discovery: only that single top sheet in the pocket was a graph. The rest comprised a manuscript, with the initials "HWL" in the bottom right corner of each page. The paper was yellowed and fragile, and the ink was faded, almost indecipherable in many places. As I studied the material, I was absolutely stunned. The manuscript, to my untrained eye, appears to be no less than manuscript by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow himself, a manuscript previously unknown to the literary world.
So, why should the L&C fanfic group care about this discovery? Well, see for yourself. I have laboriously transcribed the first chapter. Here it is.
***
by
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (?)
I
The Wakening
In the village of the Smallness
Ringed with cornfields green with splendor,
Near the rushing, great white waters,
Near the shores of Gitche Gumee,
In the land of the Dacotahs,
Stood the lodge of Jonajeejee.
Daily toiling in his cornfields,
In the green and dreamy cornfields,
With his bride the Marthakoho,
Was the joyous Jonajeejee,
Joyous that the Gods had given,
Golden bounty from each harvest.
In the village of the Smallness
Ringed with cornfields green with splendor,
Near the rushing, great white waters,
Near the shores of Gitche Gumee,
In the land of the Dacotahs,
From the stars that shone so brightly,
With a rush that filled the forest,
Fell a star before the wigwam,
Where then lived our Jonajeejee,
And his bride the Marthakoho.
Thus came a babe named Superwatha.
As the wood-birds ceased from singing,
And the squirrel, Adjidaumo,
Ceased his chatter in the oak-tree,
And the rabbit, the Wabasso,
Sat upright to look and listen,
Came this wondrous, graceful woman,
That was known as Marthakoho,
Took the babe, pressed to her bosom,
Took him in as though her own.
Sing, O Song of Superwatha,
Of the happy days that followed,
As the babe, the Superwatha,
Grew from youth to noble manhood.
Faster than a speeding arrow
Was our noble Superwatha;
He could shoot an arrow from him
And run forward with such swiftness
That the arrow fell behind him
Ere the shaft had reached its target.
With his hands so strong and steely
He could smite the rocks asunder
He could grind them into powder,
He could blow a mighty windstorm,
He could blow away the powder,
All the powder from his grinding,
'Til the rocks they were no longer,
'Til the rocks were no more there.
As of one with soaring eagles,
Was the mighty Superwatha,
Trees that nearly touched the heavens,
They would fall away below him,
He would rise above the forest,
Rise above the clustered wigwams,
Of the village of the Smallness,
He would circle ever wider,
Looking cross the great white waters,
Past the lands of the Dacotahs,
Past the never-ending prairies,
To the world that lay beyond.
End of Part I, The Wakening.
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THE END
(discover.txt)