[NOTE.—"Many Swans" is based upon a Kathlamet legend, the main
theme and many of the episodes of which I have retained, while at the same
time augmenting and freely departing from it in order to gain a wider
symbolism. Four of the songs in my poem are real Indian songs, one is an
adaptation, the others are merely in the Indian idiom. In the interest of
atmospheric truth, I have felt at liberty to make occasional use of Indian
expressions and turns of thought, and I here wish to record my gratitude
to that small body of indefatigable workers in that field of Indian folk-lore
and tradition whose careful and exact translations of Indian texts have
made them accessible to those who, like myself, have not the Indian
tongues.—A. L.]
