And soon the pale-face men came out,
And halted by the wood,
Their bright guns gleaming in their hands,
Facing the hall they stood,
While brave Sir John, like an armed knight,
March’d forward and alone,
And his errand and his company
To Powhatan made known.
He told him that his men had come
King James’s gifts to bear,
And that the captain of the sea
Stood with his warriors there;
And all things were in readiness,
If it pleased his sovereign will,
The high behest of great King James
In the crowning to fulfil.
A sharp glance then the monarch sent
To the borders of the wood,
And ask’d Sir John to point him out
Where that sea-captain stood.
And on him long and steadily
He fix’d his eagle ken,
To learn if that strange captain look’d
Like other pale-face men.
At last the monarch gave consent
For the gifts to be convey’d
To the council-hall: but only four
Of the armed men should aid
The captain and Sir John; the rest
Should strictly be compell’d
To stay beside the distant wood,
While the royal rite was held.