Part 4

The loathsome messenger of wo and death True to his dark and awful mission wound, Polluting air with his envenom'd breath, Huge folds the palisadoed camp around: Crouched at his master's feet the faithful hound, And raised a piteous and despairing cry; No outlet of escape the mother found For her imploring infants, and on high Lifted her trembling hands in voiceless agony.

VI.

Forming a hideous circle at the gate The reptile's head and tail together lay; Distended were the fang-set jaws in wait For victims, thus beleaguered, night and day; And not unlike the red and angry ray Shot by the bearded comet was the light Of his unslumbering eye that watched for prey; His burnished mail flashed back the sunshine bright, And round him pale the woods grew with untimely blight.

VII.

When famine raged within their guarded hold, And wan distemper thinn'd their numbers fast, Crowding the narrow gateway young and old With the fixed look of desperation passed From life to dreadful death--a charnel vast-- The reptile's yawning throat entombed the strong, And lovely of the Tribe:--remained at last Two lovers only of that mighty throng To chaunt with feeble voice a nation's funeral song.

VIII.

Comely to look on was the youthful pair:-- One, like the mountain pine erect and tall, Was of imposing presence;--his dark hair Had caught its hue from night's descending pall; Light was his tread--his port majestical, And well his kingly brow became a form Of matchless beauty:--like the rise and fall Of a strong billow in the hour of storm Beat his undaunted heart with glory's impulse warm.

IX.

Graced was his belt by beads of dazzling sheen And painted quills--the handiwork of one Dearer than life to him;--though he had seen From the gray hills, beneath a wasting sun, Only the snows of twenty winters run, The warrior's right his scalp lock to adorn With eagle plumes in battle he had won: O'erjoyed were prophets old when he was born, And hailed him with one voice "_First Sunbeam of the Morn_."

X.

The other!--what of her?--bright shapes beyond This darkened earth wear looks like those she wore; Graceful her mien as lilly of the pond That nods to every wind that passes o'er Its fragrant head a welcome:--never more By loveliness so rare will earth be blest; Softer than ripple breaking on the shore By moonlight was her voice, and in her breast Pure thought a dwelling found--the Bird of Love a nest.

XI.

Round her would hop unscared the sinless bird, And court the lustre of her gentle glance, Hushing each wood-note wild whene'er it heard Her song of joy:--her countenance Inspired beholders with a thought that chance Had borne her hither from some better land:-- To deck her tresses for the festive dance Girls of the tribe would bring, with liberal hand, Blossoms and rose-lipped shells from bower and reedy strand.

XII.

A thing of beauty is the slender vine That wreaths its verdant arm around the oak As if it there could safely intertwine Shielded from ringing axe--the lightning stroke-- And like that vine the girl of whom I spoke Clung to her companion:--scalding tears Rained from her elk-like eyes, and sobs outbroke From her o'er-labored bosom, while her ears Were filled with soothing tones that did not hush her fears.

XIII.

Mourner! the hour of rescue is at hand! This hill will tremble to its rocky base When Ou-wee ne-you utters stern command; Joy ere another fleeting moon the trace Of clouding sorrow from thy brow will chase:-- Fear not!--for I am left to guard thee yet Last of the daughters of a luckless race! We must not in the time of grief forget That light breaks forth anew from orbs that darkly set.

XIV.

Thus, day by day, would O-wen-do-skah strive To cheer the drooping spirits of the maid, And keep one glimmering spark of hope alive; In the deep midnight for celestial aid, While cowered the trembler at his knee, he prayed In tones that might have touched a heart of rock: One morn exclaimed he--"be no more afraid Bright, peerless scion of a broken stock, For Heaven the monster's coil is arming to unlock.

XV.

"Reserved for some high destiny despite The downfall of our people we live on-- My dreams were of deliverance last night, And peril of impending death withdrawn: A light, my weeping one, begins to dawn On the thick gloom by sorrow round us cast; The lead-like pressure of despair is gone, And rides a viewless courier on the blast Who whispers--Lo! the hour of vengeance comes at last.

XVI.

"Gorged with his meal of gore unstirring sleeps In his tremendous ring our mortal foe: Film-veiled his savage eye no longer keeps Grim watch for victims--warily and slow! Follow thy lover arrived with bended bow Of timber shaped, in many a battle tried-- Some guardian spirit will before me throw A shield by human vision undescried Should he awake in wrath, and hence our footsteps guide."

XVII.

It was I ween a sight to freeze each vein That courses through our perishable clay When sallied forth with muffled tread the twain; A look of wild, unutterable dismay Convulsed Te-yos-yu's[F] visage while the way, A spear-length in advance, her lover led: Reaching the portal paused he to survey The dangerous pass through which a grisly head Deprest to earth he saw, its mouth with murder red.

[F] Bright eye.

XVIII.

"On! On!"--he whispered--"and the sightless mole Our footfall must not hear, or we are lost:" Nerved to high purpose was his war-like soul As the dark threshold of the gate he cross'd; But fear that instant chilled his limbs with frost, For high its swollen neck the monster raised Gore dripping from its jaws with foam embossed, And rimmed with fire, and circling eye-ball blazed As light unwounding dart its horrid armor grazed.

XIX.

Sick by a foul and fetid odor made Recoiled the champion from unequal fray; Cut off all hope of rescue, he surveyed Fiercely the danger like a stag at bay: Where was Te-yos-yu?--she had swooned away, And hoof-crushed wild-flower of the forest brown Resembled her as soiled with mould she lay; Long on the _seeming corpse_ the chief looked down, For 'twas a sight the cup of his despair to crown.

XX.

Kneeling at length, upheld he with strong arm Her beauteous head, but in the temples beat No pulse of life:--tears gushing fast and warm Refresh a heart, of transcient ill the seat, As raindrops cool the summer's midday heat; But when descends some desolating blow That makes this world a desert, how unmeet Is outward symbol!--and far, far below The water-mark of grief was Oh-wen-do-skah's wo!

XXI.

In broken tones he murmured--"must the name Of a great people be revived no more, And like an echo pass away their fame, Or moccasin's faint impress on the shore Of the salt lake when billows foam and roar? Black night enwraps my soul, for she is dead Who was its light--desire to live is o'er!" Scarce were these words in mournful accent said, When peals of thunder shook low vale and mountain-head.

XXII.

Up sprang the Chief;--and on a throne of cloud, Robed in a snowy mantle fringed with light, The Lord of life beheld:--the forest bowed Its head in awe before that presence bright, And a wild shudder at the dazzling sight Ran through the mighty monster's knotted ring Shaking the hill from base to rocky height; Rose from her trance the maid with fawn-like spring, And balanced in mid-air the bird on trembling wing.

XXIII.

"Notch on the twisted sinew of thy bow This fatal weapon"--Ou-wee-ne-you[G] cried, Dropping a golden shaft--"and pierce the foe Under the rounded scale that wall his side!" Then vanished, while again the valley wide And mountain quaked with thunder:--from the ground The warrior raised the gift of Heaven, and hied On his heroic mission while around The hill with closer clasp his train the serpent wound.

[G] Great Spirit.

XXIV.

Flame-hued and hissing played its nimble tongue Between thick, ghastly rows of pointed bone Round which commingled gore and venom clung: Raging its flattened head like copper shone, And flinty earth returned a heavy groan Lashed by quick strokes of its resounding tail; Heard is like uproar when the hills bleak cone Is wildly beat by winter's icy flail, But in that moment dire the archer did not quail.

XXV.

Firm in one hand his trusty bow he held, And with the other to its glittering head Drew the long shaft while full each muscle swell'd; A twanging sound!--and on its errand sped The messenger of vengeance:--warm and red Gushed from a gaping wound the vital tide-- Wrenched was the granite from its ancient bed, And pines were broken in their leafy pride, When throes of mortal pain the monster's coil untied.

XXVI.

Down the steep hill outstretched and dead he rolled Disgorging human heads in his descent; Oaks that in earth had deeply fixed their hold Like reeds by that revolving mass were bent, Splintered their boughs as if by thunder rent: High flung the troubled lake its glittering spray, And far the beach with flakes of foam besprent, When the huge carcass disappeared for aye In depths from whence it rose to curse the beams of day.

XXVII.

When winds its murmuring bosom cease to wake Through bright transparent waves you may discern On the hard, pebbled bottom of the lake Skulls changed to stone:--when fires no longer burn Kindled by sunset, and the glistening urn Of night o'erflows with dew the phantoms pale Of matron, maid, child, seer and chieftain stern Their ghastly faces to the moon unveil, And raise upon the shore a low heart-broken wail.

XXVIII.

The lovers of Genundewah were blest By the Great Spirit, and their lodge became The nursery of a nation:--when the West Opened its gates of parti-colored flame To give their souls free passage loud acclaim Rang through the Spirit Land, and voices cried "Welcome! ye builders of eternal fame! Ye royal founders of an empire wide The stream of joy flows by, quaff ever from its tide!"

XXIX.

At Onondaga burned the sacred fire A thousand winters with unwasting blaze; In guarding it son emulated sire, And far abroad were flung its dazzling rays: Followed were happy years by evil days-- Blue-eyed and pale came Children of the Dawn Tall spires on site of bark-built town to raise; Change groves of beauty to a naked lawn, And whirl their chariot wheels where led the doe her fawn.

XXX.

Where are the mighty?--morning finds them not! I call--and echo gives response alone; The fiery bolt of Ruin hath been shot, The blow is struck--the winds of death have blown! Cold are the hearths--their altars overthrown: For them with smoking venison the board, Reward of toilsome chase, no more will groan; Sharper than hatchet proved the conqueror's sword, And blood, in fruitless strife, like water they outpoured.

XXXI.

The spotted Demon of Contagion came Ere the sacred bird of Peace could find a nest, And vanished Tribes like summer grass when flame Reddens the level prairie of the West, Or wasting dew drops when the rocky crest Of this enchanted hill is tipped with gold; And ere the Genii of the wild-wood drest With flowers and moss the grave mound's hollowed mould, Before the ringing axe went down the forest old.

XXXII.

Oh! where is Gar-an-gu-la--Sachem wise? Who was the father of his people?--where King Hendrick, Cay-en-guac-to?--_who replies?_ And Sken-an-do-ah, was thy silver hair Brought to the dust in sorrow and despair By pale oppression, though thy bow was strong To guard their Thirteen Fires?--they did not spare E'en thee, old chieftain, and thy tuneful tongue The death-dirge of thy race in measured cadence sung.

XXXIII.

Thea-an-de-nea-gua[H] of the martial brow, Gy-ant-wa,[I] Hon-ne-ya-was[J] where are they? Sa-go-ye-wat-hah![K] is _he silent_ now? No more will listening throngs his voice obey. Like visions have the mighty passed away! Their tears descend in rain-drops, and their sighs Are heard in wailing winds when evening gray Shadows the landscape, and their mournful eyes Gleam in the misty light of moon-illumin'd skies.

[H] Brunt.

[I] Corn Planter.

[J] Farmer's Brother.

[K] Red Jacket.

XXXIV.

Gone are my tribesmen, and another race, _Born of the foam_, disclose with plough and spade Secrets of battle-field and burial-place; And hunting grounds, once dark with pleasant shade, Bask in the golden light:--but I have made A pilgrimage from far to look once more On scenes through which in childhood's hour I strayed, Though robbed of might my limbs, my locks all hoar, And on this Holy Mount mourn for the days of yore,

XXXV.

Our house is broken open at both ends Though deeply set the posts, its timber strong-- From ruthless foes, and traitors masked as friends, Tutored to sing a false but pleasant song The Seneca and Mohawk guarded long Its blood-stained doors:--the _former_ faced the sun In his decline--the _latter_ watched a throng Clouding the eastern hills--their tasks are done; A game for life was played, and prize the white man won.

XXXVI.

Around me soon will bloom unfading flowers Ye glorious Spirit Islands of the just! No fatal axe will hew away your bowers, Or lay the green-robed forest king in dust: Far from the spoiler's fury, and his lust Of boundless power will I my fathers meet Tiaras wearing never dimm'd by rust, And they, while airs waft music passing sweet, To blest abodes will guide my silver-sandal'd feet.

NOTES.

_The warrior's right his scalp lock to adorn With eagle plumes in battle he had won._--STANZA IX.

No one but a brave who has slain an enemy in battle, is allowed the distinguished honor of wearing eagle feathers.

_Rained from her elk-like eyes._--STANZA XII.

Objects clear and bright are often compared by the Indian to the elk's eye. The definition of Muskingum is--"clear as an elk's eye."

_Born of the foam._--STANZA XXXIV.

The red man believes that the whites sprang from the foam of the salt water.

* * * * *

Transcriber's Note:

Inconsistent capitalization (e.g. Gulf vs. gulf), spacing (e.g. north east vs. northeast), and hyphenation (e.g. foot-prints vs. footprints) have been left as in the original.

The following changes were made to the text:

p. 5: worty to worthy (worthy of the thought and care)

p. 6: expreses to expresses (expresses the peculiarities of its own soil)

p. 6: Tueton to Teuton (the Teuton, Goth and Magyar)

p. 6: maze to maize (crushed their maize)

p. 7: Ninevah to Nineveh (buried sites of Nineveh)

p. 7: deciples to disciples (disciples of Zoroaster)

p. 8: progres to progress (progress of nations)

p. 9: Alleghany's to Alleghanies (by the Alleghanies)

p. 9: distatant to distant (at distant points)

p. 10: Susquehannah to Susquehanna (the Susquehanna, the Delaware and the St. Lawrence)

p. 11: acient to ancient (an ancient feature)

p. 13: entititled to entitled (Each clan is entitled to a chief.)

p. 14: heriditary to hereditary (a hereditary chieftainship)

p. 16: eminent to imminent (from imminent peril)

p. 20: Heredotus to Herodotus (the period of Herodotus)

p. 24: amunition to ammunition (guns and ammunition)

p. 25: Ioroquois' to Iroquois' (the Iroquois' powers)

p. 25: Vandruiel to Vaudruiel (Vaudruiel, the Governor General of New France)

p. 28: beautious to beauteous (beauteous lakes and forests)

p. 29: resplendant to resplendent (more learned and resplendent nations)

p. 30: oblitered to obliterated (half obliterated trenches)

p. 31: subsistance to subsistence (means of subsistence)

p. 33: alterior to ulterior (ulterior objects)

p. 33: pouring to poring (poring over the dusty volumes)

p. 34: vallies to valleys (countless valleys)

p. 34: centures to centuries (Centuries on centuries)

p. 43: muflled to muffled (with muffled tread)

p. 44: is to in (head in awe)

p. 44: hilll to hill (Shaking the hill)

p. 44: single quotes to double quotes ("Notch on ... fatal weapon")

p. 44: side"! to side!" (that wall his side!")

p. 46: missing close quote added (quaff ever from its tide!")

p. 48: worn to won, and period at end of first line removed to match quoted passage in poem (Note for STANZA IX.)

p. 48: missing period added (STANZA XXXIV.)