 | Nacoochee ; or, the beautiful star, with other Poems |  |
XXII.
He raised her—she was cold as ice—
And prest her to his bosom twice!
For she had scaped Ozemba's power,
And had been captive till that hour!
And when she called Ozemba's name,
A tremor ran through all her frame!
The Sachem who had bound her hands,
And torn her from her father's lands!
And while her fearful body shivered,
The exile's lips with vengeance quivered!
And Malavolti thus replied:
The wilderness, my love! is wide—
The lion, though innured to wrath,
Will never cross Naymoyah's path”—
And prest her to his bosom twice!
For she had scaped Ozemba's power,
And had been captive till that hour!
And when she called Ozemba's name,
A tremor ran through all her frame!
The Sachem who had bound her hands,
And torn her from her father's lands!
And while her fearful body shivered,
The exile's lips with vengeance quivered!
And Malavolti thus replied:
132
The lion, though innured to wrath,
Will never cross Naymoyah's path”—
“But stay,” said she, “his iron teeth,
The bright uplifted sword beneath,
His snow-white talons, newly bare—
Could give me no unkind despair;
But doom'd Ozemba's wife to be,
First made me from his presence flee!”
The bright uplifted sword beneath,
His snow-white talons, newly bare—
Could give me no unkind despair;
But doom'd Ozemba's wife to be,
First made me from his presence flee!”
And Malavolti's cheek grew pale
To hear Naymoyah's wonderous tale!
To hear Naymoyah's wonderous tale!
“The lion's eyes may meet thine own,
But he shall drop to earth like stone!
And thou shalt thread thy finger's through
His darkly flowing mane!
And on his cheeks thy tresses strew,
And feel, for fear, no inward pain!
For nought that lives—that would not die—
Shall look upon Naymoyah's eye,
While she retains her purity.
But he shall drop to earth like stone!
And thou shalt thread thy finger's through
His darkly flowing mane!
And on his cheeks thy tresses strew,
And feel, for fear, no inward pain!
For nought that lives—that would not die—
Shall look upon Naymoyah's eye,
While she retains her purity.
‘Away! Naymoyah cried,’ my heart shall bleed!
He rides upon his snowy steed!”
He rides upon his snowy steed!”
But his thundering hoof, and his whirlwind breath
Shall never return from the valley of death!
And lo! he descends from the back of his steed,
To claim his Naymoyah or die there indeed!
Shall never return from the valley of death!
And lo! he descends from the back of his steed,
To claim his Naymoyah or die there indeed!
| Nacoochee ; or, the beautiful star, with other Poems | |