Ontario Readers Third Book, The

<h2><SPAN name="Iagoo" id="Iagoo"></SPAN>IAGOO, THE BOASTER</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i1">And Iagoo, the great boaster,<br/></span> <span>He the marvellous story-teller,<br/></span> <span>He the friend of old Nokomis,<br/></span> <span>Saw in all the eyes around him,<br/></span> <span>Saw in all their looks and gestures,<br/></span> <span>That the wedding guests assembled,<br/></span> <span>Longed to hear his pleasant stories,<br/></span> <span>His immeasurable falsehoods.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i1">Very boastful was Iagoo;<br/></span> <span>Never heard he an adventure<br/></span> <span>But himself had met a greater;<br/></span> <span>Never any deed of daring<br/></span> <span>But himself had done a bolder;<br/></span> <span>Never any marvellous story<br/></span> <span>But himself could tell a stranger.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i1">Would you listen to his boasting,<br/></span> <span>Would you only give him credence,<br/></span> <span>No one ever shot an arrow<br/></span> <span>Half so far and high as he had;<br/></span> <span>Ever caught so many fishes,<br/></span> <span>Ever killed so many reindeer,<br/></span> <span>Ever trapped so many beaver!<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i1">None could run so fast as he could,<br/></span> <span>None could dive so deep as he could,<br/></span> <span>None could swim so far as he could;<br/></span> <span>None had made so many journeys,<br/></span> <span>None had seen so many wonders,<br/></span> <span>As this wonderful Iagoo,<br/></span> <span>As this marvellous story-teller!<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i1">Thus his name became a by-word<br/></span> <span>And a jest among the people;<br/></span> <span>And whene'er a boastful hunter<br/></span> <span>Praised his own address too highly,<br/></span> <span>Or a warrior, home returning,<br/></span> <span>Talked too much of his achievements,<br/></span> <span>All his hearers cried: "Iagoo!<br/></span> <span>Here's Iagoo come among us!"<br/></span></div> </div> <p class="citation"><span class="smcap">Longfellow</span>: "Hiawatha."</p> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />