Song to Spring (from East Greenland)

Aja-ha aja-ha
I was out in my kayak
making toward land.
Aja-ha aja-ha
I came to a snow-drift
that had just begun to melt.
Aja-hai-ja aja-hai-ja
And I knew that it was spring:
we'd lived through winter!
Aja-hai-ja aja-hai-ja
And I was frightened
I would be too weak,
too weak
to take in all that beauty!
Aja-hai-ja
Aja-hai-ja
Aja-ha


Text: Lowenstein, Tom (Translator) Eskimo Poems from Canada and Greenland. London: Anchor Press. 1973, p. 47
Image: ‘Snowdrift’ 1901 Edward Onslow Ford (1852 – 1901)
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ladylever/collections/graphics/large/snowdrift_large.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ladylever/collections/snowdrift.asp&h=371&w=500&sz=25&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=70vhE2zOwRmijM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsnow%2Bdrift%2Bedward%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG