 | Specimens of American poetry |  |
ALONZO LEWIS.
DEATH SONG.
Great Sassacus fled from the eastern shores,
Where the sun first shines, and the great sea roars,
For the white men came from the world afar,
And their fury burnt like the bison star.
Where the sun first shines, and the great sea roars,
For the white men came from the world afar,
And their fury burnt like the bison star.
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His sannaps were slain by their thunder's power,
And his children fell like the star-eyed flower;
His wigwams are burnt by the white man's flame,
And the home of his youth has a stranger's name—
And his children fell like the star-eyed flower;
His wigwams are burnt by the white man's flame,
And the home of his youth has a stranger's name—
His ancestor once was our countryman's foe,
And the arrow was placed in the new-strung bow,
The wild deer ranged through the forest free,
While we fought with his tribe by the distant sea.
And the arrow was placed in the new-strung bow,
The wild deer ranged through the forest free,
While we fought with his tribe by the distant sea.
But the foe never came to the Mohawk's tent,
With his hair untied, and his bow unbent,
And found not the blood of the wild deer shed,
And the calumet lit, and the bear-skin bed.
With his hair untied, and his bow unbent,
And found not the blood of the wild deer shed,
And the calumet lit, and the bear-skin bed.
But sing ye the Death Song, and kindle the pine,
And bid its broad light like his valor to shine;
Then raise high his pile by our warriors' heaps,
And tell to his tribe that his murderer sleeps.
And bid its broad light like his valor to shine;
Then raise high his pile by our warriors' heaps,
And tell to his tribe that his murderer sleeps.
THE MINSTREL'S LOVE.
My love is a lady slender and fair,
Whose mantle is light as the thin blue air,
And falls from her neck as floatingly,
As the vapor that rolls o'er a moonlight sea
Whose mantle is light as the thin blue air,
And falls from her neck as floatingly,
As the vapor that rolls o'er a moonlight sea
The clustering wreaths of her long thick hair,
Curl over her forehead, as dark and fair,
As the nightly clouds that heavily flow
Over star-loving Sunapee's mount of snow.
Curl over her forehead, as dark and fair,
As the nightly clouds that heavily flow
Over star-loving Sunapee's mount of snow.
Like the moon which looks out from a cloudy sky,
Is the soul which beams from her large blue eye,
Where utterless thoughts appear and flee,
Like shadows of clouds o'er a sunny sea.
Is the soul which beams from her large blue eye,
Where utterless thoughts appear and flee,
Like shadows of clouds o'er a sunny sea.
In the sleepless night, and the ceaseless stir
Of the busy day, my thought is with her,
And memory and love are with sighing repaid,
Because of the form of that slender maid.
Of the busy day, my thought is with her,
And memory and love are with sighing repaid,
Because of the form of that slender maid.
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THE WANDERER OF AFRICA.
He launch'd his boat where the dark waves flow,
Through the desert that never was white with snow
When the wind was still, and the sun shone bright,
And the stream glow'd red with the morning light.
Through the desert that never was white with snow
When the wind was still, and the sun shone bright,
And the stream glow'd red with the morning light.
He had sat in the cool of the palm's broad shade
And drank of the fountain of Kafnah's glade,
When the herb was scorch'd by the sun's hot ray,
And the camel failed on his thirsty way.
And drank of the fountain of Kafnah's glade,
When the herb was scorch'd by the sun's hot ray,
And the camel failed on his thirsty way.
And the dark maids of Sego their mats had spread,
And sung all night by the stranger's bed;
And his sleep was sweet on that desert sand,
For his visions were far in his own loved land.
And sung all night by the stranger's bed;
And his sleep was sweet on that desert sand,
For his visions were far in his own loved land.
He was weary and faint in a stranger clime,
But his soul was at home as in youth's sweet time,
And he lay in the shade, by his cot's clear pool,
And the breeze which came by was refreshing and cool.
But his soul was at home as in youth's sweet time,
And he lay in the shade, by his cot's clear pool,
And the breeze which came by was refreshing and cool.
And the look of his mother was gentle and sweet,
And he heard the loved steps of his sister's light feet,
And their voices were soft and expressive and low,
Like the distant rain, or the brook's calm flow.
And he heard the loved steps of his sister's light feet,
And their voices were soft and expressive and low,
Like the distant rain, or the brook's calm flow.
And this was the song which the dark maids sung,
In the beautiful strains of their own wild tongue;
“The stranger came far, and sat under our tree,
We will bring him sweet food, for no sister has he.”
In the beautiful strains of their own wild tongue;
“The stranger came far, and sat under our tree,
We will bring him sweet food, for no sister has he.”
And the stranger went forth when the night-breeze had died,
And launch'd his light bark on the Joliba's tide;
And he waved his white kerchief to those dark maids,
As he silently enter'd the palmy shades.
And launch'd his light bark on the Joliba's tide;
And he waved his white kerchief to those dark maids,
As he silently enter'd the palmy shades.
And the maidens of Sego were sad and lone,
And sung their rude song, like the death spirit's moan:
“The stranger has gone where the simoom will burn,
Alas! for the white man will never return!”
And sung their rude song, like the death spirit's moan:
“The stranger has gone where the simoom will burn,
Alas! for the white man will never return!”
| Specimens of American poetry | |