Page:The Cambridge History of American Literature, v4.djvu/217

 The Hako Ritual 629 The requisites of the Hako were such that only the well-to- do and important members of the tribe could assume respon- sibility for its performance. Two groups were required, who must not be of the same clan, and might even be of different tribes, for it was essentially a social drama, designed to insure friendship and peace between social groups, and to benefit society as a whole by bringing children to individuals. Ritualistic in structure, the Hako exhibits a compactness and progressive unity that could be studied to advantage by modem writers of community masques and pageants. Miss Fletcher's analysis of the ceremony as a whole is so masterly that it would be as unfair to her as to the reader to abridge it. But there are some features that distinguish it as a literary production, which must be mentioned. Each movement is complete in itself, but indispensable. There is a closer rela- tion between the emotional episodes and the rhythm, a finer web of words. Progressive stanza structure characterizes every movement. The verse forms are dramatically logical and rhythmically descriptive, the action leading and largely deter- mining the form. To a very remarkable degree the verse con- tours conform to the contours of the country traversed, either actually or imaginatively, throughout the performance. It is probable that this correspondence of form is uncon- scious on the part of the Pawnee authors, for, as with most folk-drama, many minds must have gone to the making of it. The Pawnees and cognate tribes who use the Hako have lived so long exposed to the influence of the open country about the Platte River that their songs unconsciously take the shape of its long undulations. Miss Fletcher has not always been suc- cessful in preserving the poetic quality of the songs, but their rhythms are most faithfully worked out, as in the following, one of a series of songs describing the journey of the Father group to the group called The Children: Dark against the sky yonder distant line Runs before, trees we see, long the line of trees Bending, swaying in the breeze, which accurately represents the jog trot of journey across the ro llin g prairie. A little later comes the crowding of ponies on the river bank :