A Guide to Henry P. H. Bromwell's "The Song of the Wahbeek": Poetic Structure

 

Portrait of Henry P. H. Bromwell, c. 1850.
at the Stephen H. Hart Research Center, History Colorado, Denver

“The Song of the Wahbeek” utilizes several meters and rhyme schemes throughout, each with the intention of invoking certain atmospheres and being homages to other poets and cultural poetry. Thus, it would be prudent to provide an analysis of the meters and rhymes he uses throughout the poem and what they are invoking.

The poem is styled as a “conversational poem,” likely modeled after Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s conversational poetry, with only portions being descriptive of the scene of the conversation, notably at the beginning and the end.

One cannot underestimate how influential Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha was on the composition of “The Song of the Wahbeek.” Hiawatha uses a trochaic tetrameter, which is borrowed from the Kalevala. Bromwell opens the poem, the description of the setting prior to the conversational speech, in a trochaic tetrameter. However, Bromwell is not strict, or rather is more fluid in the exact pronunciation of the verses. For instance, the opening is a trochaic tetrameter, but line 7 has ten syllables: “To mingle draughts of marvelous power.” But it can be read as only eight, thusly: “To mingle draughts of marv’lous pow’r.” Bromwell typically contracts two-syllable words as necessary to fit the meter. These syllabic deviations have poetic purposes. For instance, John Milton’s Paradise Lost uses iambic pentameter, with one of the most infamous lines from this epic breaking this structure: “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” (I.263). There is a trailing, unstressed, extra syllable at the end. This is deliberate. Satan is making a very bold, assertive statement, yet, the trailing extra syllable gives an air of uncertainty. Not to mention the statement switches from iambic to trochaic. Thus, line 7 may be rendered as only having nine syllables: “To mingle draughts of marvelous pow’r,” with “pow’r” being a weak, trailing syllable, effectively taking the power away from “pow’r.”

Bromwell is not as formal as Longfellow’s Hiawatha or Kalevala, but rather allows himself to stray from the meter. Longfellow did the same in other poems, but not Hiawatha; he remains strictly in trochaic tetrameter. Bromwell certainly had a mastery over poetry, and thus felt that there were moments where he had the poetic license to deviate. For the most part, until the conversational poetry begins, the verses are trochaic tetrameter. Furthermore, when the Spirit of the Wahbeek is telling stories of old, it will occasionally make use of identical rhymes, i.e. where the same word is used to make a rhyme. Bromwell is not usually fond of doing this, but it is common in many aboriginal songs and Longfellow makes heavy use of it in Hiawatha. The fact Bromwell occasionally uses identical rhymes, typically made by the Spirit of the Wahbeek, is likely an homage to Longfellow.

When the poet, chronicler, theologist, and philosopher begin their discourse, the verses turn more into free verse poetry — albeit, it is more closely hendecasyllabic, but with many deviations and no rhyme scheme that it might as well be free verse. When their conversation is interrupted by the manifestation of the Spirit of the Wahbeek, the poetry reverts back to trochaic tetrameter, and the Spirit of the Wahbeek continues this meter, and the four men continue in the same meter, until the spirit speaks once again, in which the meter reverts back once more to hendecasyllabic meter, with more slant rhymes than proper rhymes. The use of hendecasyllabic meter is an homage to classical Greek and Latin poetry, commonly used for Aeolic poetry.

Such presents a blending of homages to other poets and cultural poetry. The Kalevala uses trochaic tetrameter because Elias Lönnrot was copying the poetry he learned from indigenous Finnish cultures, albeit it with modification. Longfellow uses the same meter, not necessarily because the Kalevala uses it, but also because many indigenous American tribal poetry uses the same meter, and it is a common meter for many aboriginal cultures. Thus, the use of trochaic tetrameter is an intonation of something old, aboriginal, a song fading from memory. Yet, when the four men — all having Western vocations — speak, they use a popular meter of classical poetry, albeit modernized by neglecting rhymes or making use of slant rhymes. Then when the spirit speaks, the verses revert back to an aboriginal meter, and the four men will match the spirit’s meter as a matter of courtesy and politely communing with this divine entity. However, the spirit does not seem to mind what meter they speak in, so the spirit uses their modernized classical meter, and the men will likewise respond in the same style. All five characters are conversing with each other, not just literally, but also in meter and rhyme.

Think of it as several people are speaking in Spanish, then someone steps in and speaks to them in English. Thus, the group begins to speak in English to be polite. The English speaker then realizes that it was rude to intrude with English, and switches to Spanish, and everyone then comfortably continues in Spanish.

The meter and rhyme scheme will alternate between these two styles for much of the poem. One gets a sense of what is being invoked by how Bromwell switches the meter. Usually when the spirit is telling a story of old, the meter changes back to trochaic tetrameter, but when the characters are discussing newer concerns — e.g. the philosopher asking what these things mean, or the theologian describing theological tenets — the meter reverts to hendecasyllabic.

The “Song of Klo lo war” is an interesting insertion, and is one of the few instances where the meter is wholly different from the rest of the poem. This is largely because it is a song nested in a song within a long poem — similar to how Melmoth the Wanderer has stories nested in stories. This song has a significantly martial quality, with each stanza beginning with three words, each being stressed, and then the following verses of the stanza are pyrrhic or anapest pentameter.

Another meter Bromwell uses that is distinct from the base tetra or hendecasyllabic meters is when the Spirit of the Wahbeek switches into heptameter, a popular meter for Medieval Latin poetry. The spirit adopts this meter specifically in response to questions from the philosopher and theologist, and the spirit speaks generally of Western philosophy and theology, speaking of the Sabbath, cherubim, seraphs, tabernacles, et al. Such indicates that the spirit is also a creature of the highest god, Yah Ho, which is a play on the Tetragrammaton, Jod He Vah He. Thus, the spirit knows of things of God, the orders of angels from the Throne of God, and things God commands.

Bromwell also plays with anapestic trimeter, which gives a faster pace to the speakers’ words. Et cetera. Ultimately, the poem will conclude with the spirit, once again, adopting a hendecasyllabic meter, and then the spirit leaves. The concluding lines revert back to a general narrative, wherein the meter is once again trochaic tetrameter.

Ultimately, Bromwell’s meter and rhyme scheme is playfully executed to illustrate a variety of poetic intentions, be it to give an aboriginal or classical atmosphere, or to invoke something martial and harsh, fast paced, or ecclesiastical. Whether Bromwell intended to give an ecclesiastical atmosphere to the verses composed in heptameter is debatable, but it may be surmised that he was inspired by, say, a heptameter ecclesiastical poem, and he was making an homage to that. Regardless, the specific meter and rhyme invokes an atmosphere that is appropriate to content of the verses themselves, and artfully executed.

A Guide to Henry P. H. Bromwell's "The Song of the Wahbeek": Lexicon

 

Portrait of Henry P. H. Bromwell, c. 1890, likely by Henrietta Bromwell
at the Denver Masonic Temple Building, Denver, Colorado

Henry P. H. Bromwell's most celebrated work is Restorations of Masonic Geometry and Symbolry (1905). After this, perhaps his most well-known work, or at least the work with the greatest number of prints and most circulated is The Song of the Wahbeek (1909). It is by far Bromwell's most ambitious poem, and is without a doubt his most complex, sophisticated, progressive, longest, and perplexing poem. One aspect of the poem that makes it difficult to approach is the many names and terms he uses that appear to be of indigenous American origin. Most of the terms he uses are derived from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Indian Edda" The Song of Hiawatha, which in turn gets most of his indigenous legends and terms from Henry Rowe Schoolcraft's publications on the Ojibwe and other tribes around the Great Lakes region of the North America. However, Bromwell also uses other foreign and obscure terms, archaic English terms, and even makes up his own names.

For my own sake in assessing this poem, I found that I needed to compile a glossary of the terms Bromwell uses in order to navigate the poem more in depth. Thus, I want to share my glossary.

The spelling used here will be from the holographic manuscript as found in the Stephen H. Hart Research Center at History Colorado. In parentheses will be the spelling in the 1909 published version. I will include variation spellings, as Bromwell is not always consistent with spellings in the manuscript, but I will refer to the most commonly used spelling. Following this, I will provide a reference to the vocabulary provided in Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha, which in turn comes from Henry R. Schoolcraft's publications on the indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region. Any further commentary necessary will be provided to have the fullest understanding of these terms.

I will not be including locations of geographic names (e.g. Wabash [River] or Ohio [River]), unless it is a strange spelling that needs explaining, as Bromwell is frequently playing on the etymology of names in his spellings. Nor will I be including tribal names (e.g. Mohawk, Miami, et al), unless the spelling is unusual and needs an explanation. Only sparingly will I provide uncommon or obscure terms, names, locations, or archaic English words, and those are really when it feels like an explanation is essential. This is not a comprehensive glossary, but only what I personally feel are necessary to further explore this poem. In the future, I do plan on doing a treatment on Bromwell's poetry, and a full glossary will be available there. For now, this ought to suffice.

Abbreviations and Key:
arc.     archaic.
idio.    idiosyncratic.
pl.       plural.
syn.    synonym.
unc.    uncertain.
HWL  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha, “Vocabulary.”
( )    spelling used in the 1909 publication.
[ ]    term that is only found in a stricken portion of the holographic manuscript.

Glossary:
Athabaska — Lake Athabasca, which spans between northern Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada. The name is Cree for "where there are many reeds."

Aztic (Aztec) — idio. the Aztec civilization of Mesoamerica.

Boodh — Bodh Gayā, a Buddhist religious site in India.

Bonpas — a township in southern Illinois, named after Bonpas Creek.

Boucoup — Beaucoup is a township in southern Illinois, named after Beaucoup Creek.

[Bucyrus] — Bucyrus, Ohio. Given that Bromwell struck “Bucyrus or Nineus” from his poem and replaced them with “Euphrates or Indus” indicates that he originally conceived of comparing these presumed locales and their presumed adjacent streams with these great rivers of the world.

Calmuc — arc. for the Kalmyks, a Mongolian-speaking people in Europe, and are traditionally Buddhist.

Calumet — a tobacco pipe, i.e. the "peace pipe."

Cathay (Cathy) — the old European name for China.

Chebar — Chebar River, where Ezekiel sat for seven days (Ezekiel 3:15).

Chemaun — HWL: "Cheemaun', a birch canoe."

Chian’s lair — wolf den; from the French chien, "dog."

Chimborazo — a mountain (inactive volcano) in Ecuador. It holds the distinction of being the highest point on the earth’s equator. Given that the earth’s circumference is approximated 27 miles greater at the equator than along any meridian, this mountain is technically the highest mountain from the center of the earth. It is not certain if Bromwell knew this, but at the very least, he is referencing the high point along the equator. The "dread" referred to is likely its volcanic geology.

Copan — Copán is a Mayan city in modern-day Honduras.

Cuyote (coyote) — idio. "coyote."

Deeve — idio. daeve, a malicious spirit in Zoroastrian mythology.

Extacy, extatic — Bromwell is playing on the etymology of ecstasy here, namely the Latin extasis, which in turn is derived from the Greek ἔκστασις ekstasis, meaning “displaced” or more literally "out of where I stand." This is an example of Bromwell very explicitly using idiosyncratic spellings to play with the etymology of a word, where he wants us to reflect up a word’s origins when contemplating his verses.

Eyah yeah — HWL: "Ewa-yea', lullaby."

Fetich — arc. fetish. While the term is frequently used in a sexual manner today, historically the term referred to the veneration of inanimate objects that are believed to possess magical properties.

Flamen — the etymology of this word uncertain, but historically refers to the priests of any of the officially authorized cults of specific deities in the Roman Republic. Bromwell uses the term to refer to a high priest, given adjacent references to the ephod, signifies that this is a Royal Arch reference.

Fohi (Fo Hi) — Fuxi, a Chinese mythical character who is credited with having created humans, along with a number of human arts, such as music, and trades, such as hunting and farming.

Gheezis — HWL: "Ghee'zis, the sun." It is Ojibwe in origin and today is more generally spelled "giizis."

Gitchee Gumee, Gitchee Gummee, Gitchee Gummie — HWL: “Gitche Gu’mee, the Big-Sea-Water, Lake Superior.” From the Ojibwe gichi gami, meaning “great sea.”

Gitchee Manitou (Gitchee-Manitou) — HWL: Gitche Man'ito, the Great Spirit, the Master of Life." This is an Algonquin term, literally meaning "Great Spirit."

Grinsward (greensward) — idio. greensward, a tract of grassland. There is no etymological explanation for Bromwell’s spelling of this word.

Gush ne mou, Gush ne bou, Gush ne mow (Gush-ne-mou, Gush-ne-bou, Gush-ne-mow) — appears to be the underworld or a land of darkness where the sun sets. Probably derived from HWL: "Gushkewau', the darkness."

Gush noo, Gushnoo (Gush-nou) — a meda or medicine man in the poem who carved the figures into the boulder. He is described as an astrologer, the wisest medicine man, who traveled to Mesoamerica to learn from the Aztecs.

Guyamba — unc. probably a mountain of some significance given its proximity to Chimborazo in the poem.

Haemus — Mount Haemus, named after King Haemus, a great hunter who insulted Zeus and Hera, and thus Zeus turned him into a mountain (Ovid, Metamorphoses, X.64-77).

Happy Isles — These are perhaps an homage to the "Islands of the Blessed" in Hiawatha (VI, XV, XXII). Longfellow is likely referencing the Isles of the Blest or the Fortunate Isles (μακάρων νῆσοι makárōn nêsoi) in Greek mythology, and are an island or islands in the Underworld wherein the virtuous and courageous reside apart from the wicked or unremarkable souls. Longfellow specifically refers to the Islands of the Blessed as “the land of ghosts and shadows” (XV). Longfellow only uses the term "Islands of the Blessed" until the death of Chibiabos, the musician and singer friend of Hiawatha, who then becomes the lord of the dead in Canto XV. Thenceforth, the realm of the dead would be referred to as "Chibiabos" (XIX) or "Ponemah," HWL: "Pone’mah, hereafter." Ponemah effectively is the new name of the land of the dead, which presumably is the overall territory of the Underworld, wherein the Islands of the Blessed reside. Ultimately, the Islands of the Blessed, Ponemah, the Hereafter is where Hiawatha will set sail when he leaves his people in the hands of the white men (XXII). Geographically in North America, Bromwell may also, possibly, be referencing the "Happy Island" of the Chippewa River near Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin River has a number of islands, and thus this could be in reference to any number of them.

Havilah — Hebrew חֲוִילָה Hewila; syn. Garden of Eden, or the valley where the Pison River parts from the Garden, and is purported to be rich with gold (Genesis 2:11).

Hiddekel, Hidekel — from the Hebrew Ḥîddéqel, the Tigris River, one of the rivers flowing through the Garden of Eden.

Hoang — an Anglo approximation of the Mandarin Huáng, "Yellow," referring to the Yellow River, China.

Hueep o huiel — syn. Wohnonaissa. In the poem, she is a “maid of the forest” and singer of lamentations. She falls in love with a deceiving character, Ku she lah, who then leads her out into the wilderness. Mathro rescues her by turning her into a forest bird, wherein she sings her sad songs. Likely she was turned into a whippoorwill, possibly based on the HWL etymology of Wohnonaissa.

Idumea — Greek Ἰδουμαία, Latin Idumaea, referring the Edom, the Kingdom of the Edomites of the Old Testament.

Jebis — HWL: "Jee'bi, a ghost or a spirit." Bromwell appears to use jebis for both singular and plural instances, and sometimes makes it a proper noun when referring to a specific spirit.

Jossakeed, Josakeed  — HWL: "Joss'akeed, a prophet." The term is Ojibwe in origin, and more properly refers to a medicine man. Bromwell uses this term interchangeably with meda.

Kaskaskia — Kaskaskia, Illinois, which is a small village along the Mississippi River in southern Illinois. The settlement is named after the Kaskaskia tribe, who originally inhabited the area.

Kenning — a figure of speech in which the speaker uses many words, oftentimes figurative speech, to express something, rather than use a more definitive single word.

Kentekah (Ken-te-kah) — unc. possibly syn. "Kentucky." The name is purportedly Iroquoian for "on the meadow/prairie."

Ku she lah (Kee-she-lah) — a lying, deceiving character in the poem. He knows Hueep o huiel loves him, and when she calls to him, he lures her out into the wilderness. Mathro would punish him for this by turning him into the night wind, wandering in the darkness, and carrying “poisonous” vapors that bring sleep, leaving him eternally weeping and saddened.

Klo lo war, Klolo war, Klolowar (Klo-lo-war) — son of Malk and the brother of Mandan in the poem, who is a rather pastoral character, being given his name by the shepherds, and who is skilled in playing the lyre and sing songs, which are purportedly moving and poignant. He would be invited to play his lyre and sing for a solstitial ritual festival about the wahbeek. His song is provided in the poem as “Song of Klo-lo-war,” which awakens the spirit of the boulder. However, this song was deemed blasphemous and profaning the sacred rituals of the solstice. Thus, Mathro and the king condemn him to death. The princess Lowiel pleads with her father to spare him, but to no avail. He would be executed at the boulder and his corpse left there. Mandan would eventually go to avenge his brother’s death.

Llano — Spanish llanos, “plains,” referring to the grasslands in northern South America.

Lo qui qui (Lo-qui-qui) — unc. Described as someone or something Hueep o huiel dwells with. It is possible that Lo qui qui is simply the evening or the night, thus Hueep o huiel lives in the night.

Lowiel — a princess who was moved by Klo lo war’s song and pleaded with her father, the king, to spare the singer’s life, but to no avail. After his death, she continually mourned him at this final resting place at the boulder until she eventually passed away.

Macoupin — an American lotus, Nelumbo lutea. The term comes from the Miami-Illinois language.

Malk, Malka — a shepherd king, the father of Klo lo war and Mandan.

Mandan — son of Malk and brother of Klo lo war, is a mighty warrior in the poem. Long before Robert Peary and his team first reached the North Pole in 1909, Mandan is credited with reaching the North Pole, the kingdom of the terrible primordial spirit Rhim, whom he challenges and defeats, taking his magical sword the “stone of power,” the latter of which he gifts to Gitchee Gumee (Lake Superior). He would avenge the death of his brother Klo lo war after he was condemned to death for singing a profane song during a solstitial festival. Mandan would slaughter everyone who opposed him in the kingdom for forty days. The name “Mandan” is borrowed from a Great Plains tribe of that name.

Manitou — a spirit or deity; an Ojibwe term.

Mathro — a priestly figure in the poem. He is frequently compared to Montezuma (Moctezuma II) in the poem, who was both king and priest of the Aztec Empire, which is an homage to Montezuma’s own belief that that the conquistadors as gods and Cortez as an incarnation of Quetzalcoatl, which would inevitably lead to the destruction of the whole Aztec Empire, much in the same way that the old Finnish ways would yield to Christianity, and same way that Hiawatha ends with the old indigenous American cultures would yield to Christianity. Like Montezuma, Mathro is worshipped as a god or demigod, having his own disciples, and possessing magical abilities.

Mazaroth — from the Hebrew מַזָּרוֹת mazzarot, “constellations.” The reference to the Pleiades in the poem are an homage to Job 9:9 and 38:31-32.

Meda (pl. medas) — HWL: “Me’da, a medicine man.” The term comes from Ojibwe mida, which is derived from mashkiki, an Ojibwe approximation of “medicine” as a loan word. A societal organization of mida is called Midewiwin. The practice of medicine is called mida, and a practitioner is called a midew. Though Longfellow excludes “medamin” from his vocabulary, the term is used in Canto XVI, and is synonymous with “healing.” Bromwell uses this term interchangeably with jossakeed.

Mese Sepe (Me-se-se-pe) — Mississippi River. From the Ojibwe misiziibi, "great river."

Mi Chee gan (Mi-chee-gan) — Lake Michigan. The word comes from Ojibwe mishigami, meaning "large water."

Minne Wakon — Minne is in Longfellow's vocabular twice: Minneha'ha and Minnewa'wa, the former meaning "laughing water," and the latter meaning "pleasant sound, as of the wind in the trees." This term may be a Bromwellean original name for Milwaukee, which comes from the Ojibwa mino-akking, as well as the Algonquian mahn-a-waukee, both meaning "pleasant land." Bromwell is likely playing on several etymologies at once here.

Mondamin — HWL: "Monda'min, Indian corn [i.e. maize]." The name is a Miami corn deity. Longfellow uses the name for a spirit that Hiawatha will conjure, then wrestle with, and when Mondamin finally dies, corn sprouts from his grave, and thus a boon to the people of the land. Bromwell does not capitalize the term, indicating that he is using it simply as maize.

Musquoquetas (Muscoquetas) — likely referring to the musk rose (Rosa moschata), believed to have originated in the Himalayas, though no specimens survive. Likely Bromwell is making an homage to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream II.1.631 or John Milton's Lycidas 146.

Moweaqua — the Moweaqua Creek near the modern-day town of Moweaqua, Illinois. The word comes from the Potawotami word for "she that weeps." Bromwell uses the term to refer to a tribe.

Nah wo din (Nah-wodin, Nah-wo-din) — this is Bromwell's idiosyncratic name for Hiawatha, the hero of Longfellow's epic The Song of Hiawatha. It appears that Bromwell did not want to appear to be plagiarizing Hiawatha in the same way Longfellow was accused of plagiarizing the Kalevala. Sometimes Bromwell's use of this name sounds like he is describing a tribe, but he is referring to Hiawatha. In many ways, Bromwell's poem takes place decades after the events of Hiawatha. Tales of Nah wo din's own adventures are told in the poem, and these appear to be inspired by Hiawatha, and other times appear to be Bromwell's own.

[Nineus] — unc. Given its proximity to Bucyrus in the poem, is may be another small Midwest town that no longer exists. Given that Bromwell struck “Bucyrus or Nineus” from his poem and replaced them with “Euphrates or Indus” indicates that he originally conceived of comparing these presumed locales and their presumed adjacent streams with these great rivers of the world.

Nistak (Nistac) — an owl in the poem. He is described as lonely and thinks of himself as wiser than the medas, possibly once a meda himself, and was turned into an owl by the jebis, whom he now mocks.

Oillinois — idio. “Illinois,” i.e. the Illinois Confederation, which was comprised of the Peoria, Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Mitchigamea, and several other tribes.

Orgie — Greek ὄργια órgia, referring to secret rituals or “mysteries,” though the term literally means "work."

Ouig quah (Ou-ig-quah) — unc. possibly a blanket or covering, used metaphorically for the covering of the night.

Ouisconsin (O-is-con-sin) — Wisconsin River. It is a corruption of Jacques Marquette's Meskowsin, an approximation of the Algonquian original.

Pampa — Quechuan pampas, “plain,” referring to the fertile grasslands on the Atlantic Coast of southern South America.

Pan Yan — described in the poem as a "seer." Origin of the term is uncertain.

Peri — a winged spirit in Persian mythology, frequently of a mischievous disposition owing to their rejection from being allowed into Paradise for their transgressions.

Piasa (Pi-a-sa) — the Piasa carving of a monstrous creature on the bluffs of the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois.

Pinelore — a steamboat, an indigenous name meaning "fire canoe."

Pirogue — a canoe made from a hollowing out a single piece of wood.

Piske (Pis-ke) — the night.

Puk weejis, Puk wee jis (puckwejis) — HWL: "Puk-Wudj'ies, little wild men of the woods; pigmies." Puckwudgies are of Wampanoag folklore, and they resemble small humans, but can shapeshift, and tend to be mischievous, typically maliciously luring people into the woods. Bromwell portrays them as magical forest creatures who are responsible for changing the color of the leaves.

Rhim — a fearful primordial tyrant in the poem, born from the universe itself, and the controller of the celestial movements of planets and comets. He has a terrifying kingdom and abode at the North Pole, sitting on a throne of lodestone, and has many dreadful servants and sorcerers at this command. He is possibly allied with a dark mountain god, Watchi Manitou. He would eventually be defeated by Mandan, who captures Rhim’s dark magical sword. The name Rhim does not appear to be from any indigenous American tribe, nor does it necessarily sound American, but likely is derived from the Hebrew ראם re’em, which is some fearful beast in the Bible. St. Jerome translates the word as "unicorn," but it is also translated as "wild bull" or "rhinoceros." Isaac Asimov would argue that it is an aurochs.

Sachem — the title of the highest chief within Algonquian tribes. Sometimes Bromwell makes it a proper noun.

Sak i mas (Sak-i-mas) — likely syn. sachem and sagamore.

Sagamore (pl. sagamores) — a term near synonymous with sachem, both being deviant Anglicizations of an Algonquian term. Sometimes Bromwell makes it a proper noun.

Shah Shah — HWL: "Shah-shah, long ago." Bromwell may be using this term in lieu of "from time immemorial," a particular Masonic homage.

Shaster — idio. or arc. "Shastra," which is not a specific text, but a Sanskrit word for a treatise on a specific area of knowledge.

Shinar — the lower part of Mesopotamia (between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers), wherein King Nimrod, a great hunter, ruled during the construction of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 10:10).

Simoon — a localized sandstorm, described as being a hot, dry, dust-laden desert wind in the Saharah and the Middle East.

Sirocco — a Mediterranean wind that originates in the Sahara Desert and moves northward toward Europe. It brings hot, dry, and dusty conditions.

Tesselled — a particular Masonic term, which is a corruption of several other terms, being a conflation of "tassel," "trestle [table]," "tarsel" (a corruption of both "tassel" and "trestle"), and "tesselate." It refers to the checkered pavement of the Masonic Lodge, representing that life is checkered with good and evil. Bromwell uses the term as a sort of adornment, either as an adornment of the border of something or placing adornments throughout the field of something else.

Tomihica (tomahica) — idio. “tomahawk” (axe). This is Bromwell’s etymological approximation of the Powhatan tamahaac or the cognate Lenape temahikan.

Tophet — Hebrew תֹּפֶת Topet, is a place in the Valley of Gehenna, located in Jerusalem, and is purported where children were ritually sacrificed in a fire to either Moloch or Baal. It is referred to in II Kings 23:10, Isaiah 30:33, and Jeremiah 7:31-32.

Wadys — or wadi, is a dry gulch, which only becomes an active watercourse during the rainy season. This term is primarily used in the Middle East and Africa.

Wahbeek — HWL: "Waw'beek, a rock." In Longfellow's poem, the wawbeek is a particular black rock with fatal powers, though wawbeek could be any rock. Bromwell uses wahbeek as a general noun, though he renders it as a proper noun when referring to the spirit of the boulder central to the poem.

Wahoo — the wahoo fish, Acanthocybium solandri. 

Wah hoo — the wahoo shrub, Euonymus atropurpureus.

Wai wassi me (Wai-wass-i-me) — unc. appears to be a lightning and thunder deity or spirit in the poem.

Wampum — HWL: "Wam'pum, beads of shell." They are usually cylindrical seashells, and usually used for jewelry, though sometimes traded as "currency," albeit more for its intrinsic value than an actual currency system.

Watchi Manitou — a mountain spirit. Watchi is a Cree word for "mountain." It is a dark god that appears to be allied with Rhim. If this etymology is correct, it is a mixing of tribal languages, and stands out as a linguistic shibboleth.

Wigwam — a temporary domed structure common through indigenous North American tribes, through the term comes from the Wampanoag tribe of the northeastern United States.

Wohnonaissa (Woh-no-naissa) — possibly a portmanteau of HWL: "Wahono-win, a cry of lamentation, "and HWL: "Wawonais'sa, the whippoorwill." This is a female figure who is described as sad and a singer, also called Hueep o huiel.

Woof (pl. woofs) — arc. a texture or fabric. From the Old English owef “fabric,” wefan “to weave.”

Yah Ho, Yah Hoh — the most supreme deity of all spirits. This is a derivation of the Tetragrammaton: Yod He [Vau He], or Jah He, or Jehovah.