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Among the arts of the Eskimo poetry and music are by far the most prominent. The tales which have been related are only a small part of their stock of traditions. Besides the contents their form also is very interesting, as most of them have been handed down in unchanged form and their narration demands a great deal of art. Many traditions are told in a very abridged form, the substance being supposed to be known. A specimen of this kind is the Sedna tradition (p. 604). All these tales must be considered recitatives, many of them beginning with a musical phrase and continuing as a rhythmic recitation, others being recited in rhythmic phrases throughout. Other traditions are told in a more detailed and prosaic manner, songs or recitations, however, being sometimes included. Ititaujang, for instance, in traveling into the country looking for his wife, sings the song No. XIII, and in the Kalopaling tradition the boy, on seeing the two Inuit coming, sings:

Some Eskimo are very good narrators and understand how to express the feelings of the different persons by modulations of the voice. In addition, as a number of tales are really onomatopoetic, an artistic effect is produced. The way of reciting is always similar to the one above described by notes (p. 648).

Besides these tales, which may be called poetic prose, there are real poems of a very marked rhythm, which are not sung but recited. The following are examples: