Wo! Wo! Wo
Wo to the sons of the far-off land,
Weak in heart and pale in face,
Deer in battle, moose in a race,
Panthers wanting claw and tooth
Wo to the red man, strong of hand,
Steady of purpose, lithe of limb,
Calm in the toils of the foe,
Knowing nor tears nor ruth
Wo to them and him,
If, cast by hard fate at the midnight damp,
Or an hour of storm in the dismal swamp,
That skirts the Lake of the White Canoe!
Wo to him and them,
If, when the night's dim lamps are veil'd,
And the Hunter's Star is hid,
And the moon has shut her lid,
For their wearied limbs the only birth
Be the cold and frosty earth,
And their flesh be burnt by the gum exhal'd
From the cedar's poisonous stem,
And steep'd in the blistering dew
Of the barren vine in the birchen copse,
Where rear the pines their giant tops
Above the Lake of the White Canoe!
My brother hears--'t is well--
And let him shun the spot,
The damp and dismal brake,
That skirts the shallow lake,
The brown and stagnant pool[A],
The dark and miry fen,
And let him never at nightfall spread
His blanket among the isles that dot
The surface of that lake;
And let my brother tell
The men of his race that the wolf hath fed
Ere now on warriors brave and true,
In the fearful Lake of the White Canoe.
Wo! Wo! Wo!
To him that sleeps in those dark fens!
The she-wolf will stir the brake,
And the copper-snake breathe in his ear,
And the bitterns will start by tens,
And the slender junipers shake
With the weight of the nimble bear,
And the pool resound with the cayman's plash,
And the owl will hoot in the boughs of the ash,
Where he sits so calm and cool;
Above his head, the muckawiss[B]
Will sing his gloomy song;
Frogs will scold in the pool,
To see the musk-rat carry along
The perch to his hairy brood;
And, coil'd at his feet, the horn-snake will hiss,
Nor last nor least of the throng,
The shades of the youth and maid so true,
That haunt the Lake of the White Canoe.
And, if he chance to sleep,
Still will his _okki_ whisper wo,
For hideous forms will rise:
The spirits of the swamp
Will come from their caverns dark and deep,
Where the slimy currents flow,
With the serpent and wolf to romp,
And to whisper in the sleeper's ear
Of wo and danger near;
And mist will hide the pale, cold moon,
And the stars will seem like the sparkling flies
That twinkle in the prairie glades,
In my brother's month of June--
Murky shades, dim, dark shades,
Shades of the cypress, pine, and yew,
In the swamp of the Lake of the White Canoe.
Wo! wo! wo!
He will hear in the dead of the night--
If the bittern will stay his toot,
And the serpent will cease his hiss,
And the wolf forget his howl,
And the owl forbear his hoot,
And the plaintive muckawiss,
And his neighbour the frog, will be mute--
A plash like the dip of a water-fowl,
In the lake with mist so white;
And two forms will float on his troubled view,
O'er the brake, with a meteor light,
And he'll hear the words of a tender song,
Stealing like a spring-wind along
The Lake of the White Canoe.
That song will be a song of wo,
Its burthen will be a gloomy tale;
It will cause the rain to flow;
It will tell of youthful love,
Fond but blighted love;
It will tell of father's cruelty;
It will cause the rain to flow;
It will tell of two lovely flowers
That grew in the wilderness;
And the mildew that touch'd the leaf;
And the canker that struck the bud;
And the lightning that wither'd the stem;
And 't will speak of the Spirit-dove,
That summon'd them away,
Deeming them all too good and true,
For aught save to paddle a White Canoe
[Footnote A: The water of the little lake (Drummond's Pond), to which
this tradition relates, is coloured brown by the roots of the juniper
and cedar.]
[Footnote B: Whip-poor-will.]
With these wild stanzas, preliminary to a tradition current among the
tribes of that region, Walk in the Water, a Roanoke chief of great
celebrity, commenced his tale. Undoubtedly most of the Indians present
were as well acquainted with the story as the narrator, but that
circumstance seemed to abate nothing of the interest with which it was
listened to; it certainly did not diminish the attention of the
audience. In this respect, these wild foresters deserve to become a
pattern for careful imitation. They never interrupt a speaker. However
incongruous or ill put together his tale, or insulting the matter or
manner of his speech, or revolting his opinions to their preconceived
notions and prejudices, he is heard patiently until he has said all
that he has to say. And, after he has seated himself, sufficient time
is given him to recollect whether he has left unsaid any thing in his
opinion of importance to the correct interpretation of his views.
It will be seen from the specimens interspersed through these volumes,
that the poetry of the Indians is in general of the warlike, or of the
tender and pathetic kind. Their only poetry is found in their songs.
They are sung in a kind of measure, always harmonious to an Indian
ear, and frequently to ours. The music is well adapted to the words.
It would be idle to attempt to give an idea of it by means of our
musical notes, as has been done by other writers; I should probably
meet with the fate of those who have tried in the same manner to
describe the melodies of the ancient Greeks. They sing it in short
lines or sentences, not always the whole at once, but most generally
in detached parts, as time permits, and as the occasion or their
feelings prompt them. Their accent is very pathetic and melancholy; a
by-stander unacquainted with their language would suppose that they
were details of some great affliction: both sexes sing in chorus,
first the men and then the women. At times the women join in the
general song, or repeat the strain which the men have just finished.
It seems like two parties singing in questions and answers, and is,
upon the whole, very agreeable and enlivening. After thus singing for
about a quarter of an hour, they conclude each song with a loud yell,
not unlike the cat-bird, which closes its pretty song with mewing like
a cat. The voices of the women are clear and full, and their
intonations generally correct.
The Dismal Swamp, which gave rise to this genuine Indian tradition, is
one of the gloomiest spots on the face of the earth. It is situated in
the state of Virginia, and covers a very large space. On the south
side of this wild and gloomy region the marshy border is thickly
overgrown with immense reeds, and, as far as the eye can take in,
waves slowly and heavily one dark green sea. Then, on all the other
skirts of the forest itself, the lofty trees are covered to their
summits by the yellow jessamine, and other quick-growing creepers,
breathing odour, and alive with the chirping of insects and the melody
of birds. In the open and less marshy skirts of the vast forest,
gigantic tulip-trees shoot up their massy and regular-built trunks,
straight and pillar-like, until they put forth their broad arms
covered with the magnificent foliage of their glossy deep green
leaves, interspersed with superb white and yellow tulip-shaped
flowers. Under their shade are sheltered, like shrubs, trees which
elsewhere would be the pride of the forest, or the park--the stately
gum-tree, and the magnolia, with its broad shining leaves and
beautiful white flowers; whilst at their feet you force your way
through tangles of the honeysuckle, or thickets of the moisture-loving
bay, rich with its large rose-coloured clusters. But, the moment you
penetrate beyond the sun's cheering influence into the deeper recesses
of the swamp itself, how solemn is the change! There, the cypress and
the juniper, rising without a branch to interrupt the regularity of
their tall trunks for a hundred feet, stand thick and close together,
like so many tall columns reared to support the roof of a vast temple.
All is silent as the grave. Not an insect buzzes or chirps about you;
no cry or song of bird or beast is heard. You seem to have penetrated
beyond the bounds not only of human society and existence but of
animal life, and to be passing through the still and dark valley of
the shadow of death.
As the traveller pushes his doubtful way along, he will come upon some
broad, lake-like sheet of water, still, silent, and sluggish, calmly
reflecting the quiet solemnity of the forest. I say still and silent,
but these little lakes are visited at certain seasons of the year by
myriads of wild fowl, the clapping of whose wings, as they rise from
the water, may be heard to a great distance. The water of all those
lakes is of the same colour as the roots and bark of the juniper and
cedar-trees, from which it receives its hue. And, when the sun flashes
on the amber-coloured lake, and the cypress forest throws its gloomy
shade over its face, the traveller becomes thrilled with awe and
astonishment. He fancies that he has never seen any spot so fitted to
be the residence of spirits of a malignant influence, and expects to
see evil eyes cast upon him from every copse. The bird and bat, as
they flit through the shades of night, magnified by the misty
exhalations, seem the envious demons of the spot; and, foolish man! he
more regards the dangers which are unreal than those which are
real--is more afraid of the spirits which cannot harm, than of the
ravenous beasts and poisonous serpents with which he is environed, and
whose fangs are death in its most hideous shape.
Having introduced this not altogether gratuitous description of a spot
celebrated in America for its picturesque situation and horrors, I
resume the rhythmical tale of the chief of the Roanokes.
It was many seasons ago,
How long I cannot tell my brother,
That this sad thing befell;
The tale was old in the time of my father,
To whom it was told by my mother's mother.
My brother hears--'tis well--
Nor may he doubt my speech;
The red man's mind receives a tale
As snow the print of a mocassin;
But, when he hath it once,
It abides like a footstep chisell'd in rock,
The hard and flinty rock.
The pale man writes his tales
Upon a loose and fluttering leaf,
Then gives it to the winds that sweep
Over the ocean of the mind;
The red man his on the evergreen
Of his trusty memory(1).
When he from the far-off land would know
The tales of his father's day,
He unrolls the spirit-skin[A],
And utters what it bids:
The Indian pours from his memory
His song, as a brook its babbling flood
From a lofty rock into a dell,
In the pleasant summer-moon.--
My brother hears.--
He hears my words--'tis well--
And let him write them down
Upon the spirit-skin,
That, when he has cross'd the lake,
The Great Salt Lake,
The lake, where the gentle spring winds dwell,
And the mighty fishes sport,
And has called his babes to his knee,
And his beauteous dove to his arms,
And has smok'd in the calumet
With the friends he left behind,
And his father, and mother, and kin,
Are gather'd around his fire,
To learn what red men say,
He may the skin unroll, and bid
His Okki this tradition read[B]--
The parting words of the Roanoke,
And his tale of a lover and maiden true,
Who paddle the Lake in a White Canoe.
There liv'd upon the Great Arm's brink[C],
In that far day,
The warlike Roanokes,
The masters of the wilds:
They warr'd on distant lands,
This valiant nation, victors every where;
Their shouts rung through the hollow oaks,
That beetle over the Spirit Bay[D],
Where the red elk comes to drink;
The frozen clime of the Hunter's Star
Rang shrill with the shout of their bands,
And the whistle of their cress[E];
And they fought the distant Cherokee,
The Chickasaw, and the Muscogulgee,
And the Sioux of the West.
They liv'd for nought but war,
Though now and then would be caught a view
Of a Roanoke in a White Canoe.
Among this tribe, this valiant tribe,
Of brave and warlike Roanokes,
Were two--a youth and maid,
Who lov'd each other well,
Long and fondly lov'd,
Lov'd from the childish hour,
When, through the bosky dell,
Together they fondly rov'd,
In quest of the little flower,
That likes to bloom in the quiet shade
Of the tall and stately oaks.
The pale face calls it the violet--
'Tis a beautiful child when its leaves are wet
With the morning dew, and spread
To the beam of the sun, and its little head
Sinks low with the weight of the tear
That gems its pale blue eye,
Causing it to lie
Like a maiden whose heart is broke.--
Does my brother hear?
He hears my words--'tis well--
The names of this fond youth and maid
Tell who they were,
For he was Annawan, the Brave,
And she Pequida, the girl of the braid,
The fairest of the fair.
Her foot was the foot of the nimble doe,
That flies from a cruel carcajou,
Deeming speed the means to save;
Her eyes were the eyes of the yellow owl,
That builds his nest by the River of Fish;
Her hair was black as the wings of the fowl[F]
That drew this world from the great abyss.
Small and plump was her hand;
Small and slender her foot;
And, when she opened her lips to sing,
Ripe red lips, soft sweet lips,
Lips like the flower that the honey-bee sips,
The birds in the grove were mute,
The bittern forgot his toot,
And the owl forbore his hoot,
And the king-bird set his wing,
And the woodpecker ceas'd his tap
On the hollow beech,
And the son of the loon on the neighbouring strand
Gave over his idle screech,
And fell to sleep in his mother's lap.
And she was good as fair,
This maid of the Roanokes;
She was mild as a day in spring;
Morning, noon, and night,
Young Pequida smil'd on all,
But most on one.
She smil'd more sweet if he were there,
And her laugh more joyous rung,
And her step had a firmer spring,
And her eye had a keener light,
And her tongue dealt out blither jokes,
And she had more songs to spare,
And she better mock'd the blue jay's cry,
When his dinner of maize was done;
And better far, when he stood in view,
Could she paddle the Lake in her White Canoe.
And who was he she lov'd?
The bravest he of the Roanokes,
A leader, before his years
Were the years of a full-grown man;
A warrior, when his strength
Was less than a warrior's need;
But, when his limbs were grown,
And he stood erect and tall,
Who could bend the sprout of the oak
Of which his bow was made?
Who could poise his choice of spears,
To him but a little reed?
None in all the land.
And who had a soul so warm?
Who was so kind a friend(2)?
And who so free to lend
To the weary stranger bed and bread,
Food for his stomach, rest for his head,
As Annawan, the Roanoke,
The valiant son of the chief Red Oak?
They liv'd from infancy together;
They seem'd two sides of a sparrow's feather;
Together they roam'd o'er the rocky hill,
And through the woody hollow,
And by the river brink,
And o'er the winter snows;
And they sat for hours by the summer rill,
To watch the stag as he came to drink,
And to see the beaver wallow;
And when the waters froze,
They still had a sport to follow
O'er the smooth ice, for, full in view,
Lay the glassy Lake of the White Canoe.
The youth was the son of a chief,
And the maiden a warrior's daughter;
Both were approv'd for deeds of blood;
Both were fearless, strong, and brave:
One was a Roanoke,
The other a captive Maqua boy,
In battle sav'd from slaughter(3)--
A single ear from a blighted sheaf,
Planted in Aragisken land[G];
And these two men were foes.
When they to manhood came,
And each had skill and strength to bend
A bow with a warrior's aim,
And to wield the club of massy oak
That a warrior-man should wield,
And to pride themselves on a blood-red hand,
And to deem its cleanness shame,
Each claim'd to lead the band,
And angry words arose,
But the warriors chose Red Oak,
Because his sire was a Roanoke.
Then fill'd the Maqua's heart with ire,
And out he spoke:
"Have his deeds equall'd mine?
Three are the scalps on his pole[H]--
In my smoke are nine;
I have fought with a Cherokee;
I have stricken a warrior's blow,
Where the waves of Ontario roll;
I have borne my lance where he dare not go;
I have looked on a stunted pine
In the realms of endless frost,
And the path of the Knisteneau
And the Abenaki crost.
While the Red Oak planted the land,
It was mine to lead the band."
Then fiercely answer'd the rival Brave,
And bitter strife arose;
Loud and angry words,
Noisy boasts and taunts,
Menaces and blows,
These foolish men each other gave;
And each like a panther pants
For the blood of his brother chief;
Each himself with his war-club girds,
And forth he madly goes,
His wrath and ire to wreak;
But the warriors interpose.
Thenceforth they met as two eagles meet,
When food but for one lies dead at their feet,
And neither dare be the thief:
Each is prompt to show his ire;
The eye of each is an eye of fire,
And trembles each hand to give
The last and fatal blow;
And thus my brother may see them live
With the feelings that wolf-dogs know.
And when each of these brave men
Had built himself a lodge,
And each had a bird in his nest,
And each had a babe at his knee,
Their hate had no abatement known,
Still each was his brother's enemy.
And thirsted for his blood.
And when those babes had grown,
The one to be a man
In stature, years, and soul,
With a warrior's eye and brow,
And his poll a shaven poll[I],
And his step as a wild colt's free,
And his voice like the winter wind,
Or the roaring of the sea;
The other a maiden ripe,
With a woman's tender heart,
Full of soft and gentle wishes,
Sighs by day and dreams by night,
Their hostile fathers bade them roam
Together no more o'er the rocky dell,
And through the woody hollow,
And by the river brink,
And o'er the winter snows,
Nor sit for hours by the summer rill,
To watch the stag as he came to drink,
And to see the beaver wallow,
Nor when the waters froze,
Have a pleasant sport to follow,
O'er the smooth ice; they bade them shun,
Each other as the stars the sun.
What did they then--this youth and maid?
Did they their fathers mind?--
I will tell my brother.--
They met--in secret met'Twas
not in the rocky dell,
Nor in the woody hollow,
Nor by the river brink,
Nor o'er the winter snows,
Nor by the summer rill,
Watching the stag as he came to drink,
And to see the beaver wallow,
That these two lovers met,
Nor when the waters froze,
Giving good sport to follow:
But, when the sky was mild,
And the moon's pale light was veil'd,
And hushed was every breeze,
In prairie, village, and wild,
And the bittern had stayed his toot,
And the serpent had ceased his hiss,
And the wolf forgot his howl,
And the owl forbore his hoot,
And the plaintive wekolis[J],
And his neighbour, the frog, were mute--
Then would my brother have heard
A plash like the dip of a water-fowl,
In the lake with mist so white,
And the smooth wave roll to the bank,
And have seen the current stirr'd
By something that seemed a White Canoe,
Gliding past his troubled view.
And thus for moons they met
By night on the tranquil lake,
When darkness veils the earth;
Nought care they for the wolf,
That stirs the brake on the bank;
Nought that the junipers shake
With the weight of the nimble bear,
Nor that bitterns start by tens,
Nor to hear the cayman's plash,
Nor the hoot of the owl in the boughs of the ash,
Where he sat so calm and cool:
And thus each night they met,
And thus a summer pass'd.
Autumn came at length,
With all its promised joys,
Its host of glittering stars,
Its fields of yellow corn,
Its shrill and healthful winds,
Its sports of field and flood.
The buck in the grove was sleek and fat,
The corn was ripe and tall;
Grapes clustered thick on the vines;
And the healing winds of the north
Had left their cells to breathe
On the fever'd cheeks of the Roanokes,
And the skies were lit by brighter stars
Than light them in the time of summer.
Then said the father of the maid,
"My daughter, hear--
A bird has whispered in my ear,
That, often in the midnight hour,
They who walk in the shades,
The murky shades, dim, dark shades,
Shades of the cypress, pine, and yew,
That tower above the glassy lake,
Will see glide past their troubled view
Two forms as a meteor light,
And will note a white canoe,
Paddled along by two,
And will bear the words of a tender song,
Stealing like a spring-wind along;
Tell me, my daughter, if either be you?"
Then down the daughter's cheek
Ran drops like the summer rain,
And thus she spoke:
"Father, I love the valiant Annawan;
Too long have we roam'd o'er the rocky dell,
And through the woody hollow,
And by the river brink,
And o'er the winter snows,
To tear him from my heart:
Too long have we sat by the summer rill,
To watch the buck as he came to drink,
And to see the beaver wallow,
To live from him apart--
My father hears."
"Thou lov'st the son of my foe,
And know'st thou not the wrongs
That foe hath heap'd on me?
The nation made him chief--
Why made they him a chief?
Had his deeds equall'd mine?
Three were the scalps on his pole,
In my smoke were nine:
I had fought with a Cherokee;
I had struck a warrior's blow,
Where the waves of Ontario roll;
I had borne my lance where he dare not go;
I had look'd on a stunted pine,
In the realms of endless frost,
And the path of the Knisteneau,
And the Abenaki crost;
While the Red Oak planted his land,
It was mine to lead the band.
Since then we never spoke,
Unless to utter reproach,
And bandy bitter words;
We meet as two hungry eagles meet,
When a badger lies dead at their feet--
Each would use a spear on his foe,
Each an arrow would put to his bow,
And bid its goal be his foeman's breast,
But the warriors interpose,
And delay the vengeance I owe.
Thou hear'st my words--'t is well.
"Then listen to my words--
The soul of a Maqua never cools;
His ire can never be assuag'd,
But with the smell of gore
I thirst for the Red Oak's blood;
I live but for revenge;
Thou shalt not wed his son;
Choose thee a mate elsewhere,
And see that ye roam no more
By night o'er the rocky dell,
And through the woody hollow,
But when the sun its eye-lids closes,
See that thine own the example follow."
And the father of the youth
Spake thus unto his son:
"A bird has whispered in my ear,
That when the stars have gone to rest,
And the moon her eye-lids hath clos'd,
Who walk beside the lake
Will see glide past their troubled view
Two forms as a meteor light,
And will note a white canoe
Paddled along by two,
And will hear the words of a tender song.
Stealing like a spring wind along.
Tell me, my son, if either be you?"
Then answer'd the valiant son,
"Mine is a warrior's soul,
And mine is an arm of strength;
I scorn to tell a lie;
The bird has told thee true.
And, father, hear my words:
I now have come to man's estate;
Who can bend the sprout of the oak,
Of which my bow is made?
Who can poise my choice of spears,
To me but a slender reed?
I fain would build myself a lodge,
And take to that lodge a wife:
And, father, hear thy son--
I love the Red Oak's daughter."
"Thou lov'st the daughter of my foe;
And know'st thou not the taunts
His tongue hath heap'd on me:
The nation made me chief,
And thence his ire arose;
Thence came foul wrongs and blows,
And neither yet aveng'd.
He boasted that his fame exceeded mine:
Three, he said, were the scalps on my pole,
While in his lodge were nine--
He did not tell how many I _struck_,
Nor spoke of my constancy,
When the Nansemonds tore my flesh,
With burning pincers tore;
And he said he had fought with a Cherokee,
And had struck a warrior's blow,
Where the waves of Ontario roll,
And had borne his lance where I dare not go,
And had look'd on a stunted pine,
In the realms of endless frost;
And the path of the Knisteneau
And the Abenaki crost:
While--bitter taunt!--cruel taunt!
And for it I'll drink his blood,
And eat him broil'd in fire--
The Red Oak planted his land,
It was his to lead the band.
"And listen further to my words--
My wrath can never be assuag'd;
Thou shalt not wed his daughter,
Choose thee a wife elsewhere;
Choose thee one any where,
Save in the Maqua's lodge.
The Nansemonds have maidens fair,
With bright black eyes, and long black locks,
And voice like the music of rills;
The Chippewa girls of the frosty north
Have feet like the nimble antelopes'
That bound on their native hills;
And their voice is like the dove's in spring--
Take one of those doves to thy cage;
But see no more, by day or night,
The Maqua warrior's daughter."
And haughtily he turn'd away.
Night was abroad on the earth;
Mists were over the face of the moon,
And the stars were like the sparkling flies
That twinkle in the prairie glades,
In my brother's month of June:
And hideous forms had risen;
The spirits of the swamp
Had come from their caverns dark and deep,
Where the slimy currents flow,
With the serpent and wolf to romp,
And to whisper in the sleeper's ear
Of death and danger near.
Then to the margin of the lake
A beauteous maiden came;
Tall she was as a youthful fir,
Upon the river's bank;
Her step was the step of the antelope;
Her eye was the eye of the doe;
Her hair was black as a coal-black horse;
Her hand was plump and small;
Her foot was slender and small;
And her voice was the voice of a rill in the moon,
Of the rill's most gentle song.
Beautiful lips had she,
Ripe red lips,
Lips like the flower that the honey-bee sips,
When its head is bow'd by dew.
She stood beneath the shade
Of the dark and lofty trees,
That threw their image on the lake,
And waited long in silence there.
"Why comes he not, my Annawan,
My lover, brave and true?
He knows his maiden waits for him
Beneath the shade of the yew,
To paddle the lake in her White Canoe."
But Annawan came not:
"He has miss'd me sure," the maiden said,
"And skims the lake alone;
Dark though it be, and the winds are high,
I'll seek my warrior there."
Then lightly to her white canoe
The fair Pequida sprung,
And is gone from the shore alone.
Loud blew the mighty winds,
The clouds were dense and black,
Thunders rolled among the hills,
Lightnings flash'd through the shades;
The spirits cried aloud
Their melancholy cries,
Cries which assail the listening ear
When danger and death are near:
Who is he that stands on the shore,
Uttering sounds of grief?
'Tis Annawan, the favour'd youth,
Detain'd so long lest envious eyes
Should know wherefore at midnight hour
He seeks the lake alone.
He finds the maiden gone,
And anguish fills his soul,
And yet, perchance in childish sport,
She hides among the groves.
Loudly he calls, "My maiden fair,
Thy Annawan is here!
Where art thou, maid with the coal-black hair?
What does thy bosom fear?
If thou hast hid in playful mood
In the shade of the pine, or the cypress wood,
If the little heart that so gently heaves
Is lightly pressing a bed of leaves;
Tell me, maiden, by thy voice
Bid thy lover's heart rejoice;
Ope on him thy starry eyes;
Let him clasp thee in his arms,
Press thy ripe, red lips to his.
Come, my fair Pequida, come!"
No answer meets the warrior's ears,
But glimmering o'er the lake appears
A solitary, twinkling light--
It seems a fire-fly lamp;
It moves, with motion quick and strange,
Over the broad lake's breast.
The lover sprung to his light canoe,
And swiftly followed the meteor spark,
But the winds were high, and the clouds were dark,
He could not find the maid,
Nor near the glittering lamp.
He went to his father's lodge,
And laid him on the earth,
Calmly laid him down.
Words he spoke to none,
Looks bestow'd on none.
They brought him food--he would not eat--
They brought him drink--he would not drink--
They brought him a spear and a bow,
And a club, and an arrowy sheaf,
And shouted the cry of war,
And prais'd him, and nam'd him a Chief,
And told how the treacherous Nanticokes
Had slain three Braves of the Roanokes;
That a man of the tribe who never ran
Had vow'd to war on the Red Oak's son--
But he show'd no signs of wrath;
His thoughts were abroad in another path.
Sudden he sprung to his feet,
Like an arrow impell'd by a vigorous arm.
"You have dug her grave," said he,
"In a spot too cold and damp,
All too cold and damp,
For a soul so warm and true.
Where, think ye, her soul has gone?
Gone to the Lake of the Dismal Swamp,
Where all night long by a fire-fly lamp
She paddles her White Canoe.
And thither I will go!"
And with that he took his quiver and bow,
And bade them all adieu.
And the youth returned no more;
And the maiden returned no more;
Alive none saw them more;
But oft their spirits are seen
By him who sleeps in that swamp.
When the night's dim lamps are veil'd,
And the Hunter's Star is hid,
And the moon has shut her lid,
And the she-wolf stirs the brake,
And the bitterns start by tens,
And the slender junipers shake
With the weight of the nimble bear,
And the pool resounds with the cayman's plash,
And the owl sings out of the boughs of the ash,
Where he sits so calm and cool,
And above his head the muckawiss
Sings his gloomy song,
And croak the frogs in the pool,
And he hears at his feet the horn-snake's hiss;
Then often flit along
The shades of the youth and maid so true,
That haunt the Lake of the White Canoe.
[Footnote A: The Indians could never be brought to believe that paper
was any other than a tanned skin invested with the powers of a
spirit.]
[Footnote B: See note, vol. i. page 195.]
[Footnote C: Chesapeak bay.]
[Footnote D: Bay of Saganaum, in Lake Huron.]
[Footnote E: Cress or _crease_, a poisoned arrow, seldom used,
however, by the tribes east of the Rocky Mountains.]
[Footnote F: Bird of Ages--See the Tradition vol. ii. page 35.]
[Footnote G: Virginia.]
[Footnote H: Scalps are suspended from a pole in the lodge, and
usually in the smoke.]
[Footnote I: Alluding to the custom of the Indian of shaving off all
the hair except the scalp-lock.]
[Footnote J: _Wekolis_--another name for the whip-poor-will.]