Rush on, broad stream, in thy power and pride,
To claim the hand of thy promis'd bride,--
She doth haste from the realm of the darken'd mine,
To mingle her murmur'd vows with thine;
Ye have met, ye have met,--and the shores prolong
The liquid tone of your nuptial song.
Methinks ye wed as the white man's son
And the child of the Indian king have done;
I saw thy bride as she strove in vain
To cleanse her brow from the carbon stain,--
But the dowry she brings, is so rich and true,
That thy love must not shrink from the tawny hue.
Her birth was rude in the mountain cell,
And her infant freaks there are none to tell;
The path of her beauty was wild and free,
And in dell and forest she hid from thee,--
But the time of her fond caprice is o'er,
And she seeks to part from thy breast no more.
Pass on, in the joy of your blended tide,
Thro' the land where the blessed Miquon[1] died;
No red man's blood with its guilty stain,
Hath cried unto God, from that green domain;
With the seeds of peace they have seen the soil
Bring a harvest of wealth for their hour of toil.
On,--on,--thro' the vale where the brave ones sleep,
Where the waving foliage is rich and deep;
I have look'd from the mountain and roam'd thro' the glen,
To the beautiful homes of the western men,
Yet naught in that realm of enchantment could see,
So fair as the Vale of Wyoming to me.