Classic Poem

ACT II.

SCENE FIRST. — Before THE P ROPHET'S T OWN .

Enter T ECUMSEH and L EFROY .

T ECUMSEH . No guard or outlook here! This is most strange.
Chance reigns where prudence sleeps.

Enter a Brave .

Here comes a brave
With frenzy in his face. Where is the Prophet?
Brave . He fasts alone within the medicine-lodge,
And talks to our Great Spirit. All our braves,
Huddling in fear, stand motionless without,
Thrilled by strange sounds, and voices not of earth.
T ECUMSEH . How long has it been thus?
Brave . Four nights have passed
And none have seen his face; but all have heard
His dreadful tongue, in incantations deep,
Fetch horrors up — vile beings flashed from hell,
Who fought as devils fight, until the lodge
Shook to its base with struggling, and the earth
Quaked as, with magic strength, he flung them down.
These strove with him for mastery of our fate;
But, being foiled, Yohewa has appeared,
And, in the darkness of our sacred lodge,
Communes with him.
T ECUMSEH . Our Spirit great and good!
He comes not here for nought. What has he promised?
Brave . Much! for henceforth we are invulnerable.
The bullets of the Long-Knives will rebound,
Like petty hailstones, from our naked breasts;
And, in the misty morns of our attack,
Strange lights will shine on them to guide our aim,
Whilst clouds of gloom will screen us from their sight.
T ECUMSEH . The Prophet is a wise interpreter,
And all his words, by valour backed, will stand;
For valour is the weapon of the soul,
More dreaded by our vaunting enemies
Than the plumed arrow, or the screaming ball.
What wizardry and witchcraft has he found
Conspiring 'gainst our people's good?
Brave . Why, none!
Wizard and witch are weeded out, he says;
Not one is left to do us hurt.
T ECUMSEH . ( Aside .) 'Tis well!
My brother has the eyeball of the horse,
And swerves from danger. ( To Brave .) Bid our warriors come!
I wait them here.

The Prophet soon will follow.
L EFROY . Now opportunity attend my heart,
Which waits for Iena! True love's behest,
Outrunning war's, will bring her to my arms
Ere cease the braves from gasping wonderment.
T ECUMSEH . First look on service ere you look on love;
You shall not see her here.
L EFROY . My promises
Are sureties of my service —
T ECUMSEH . But your deeds,
Accomplishments; our people count on deeds.
Be patient! Look upon our warriors
Roped round with scars and cicatrized wounds,
Inflicted in deep trial of their spirit.
Their skewered sides are proofs of manly souls,
Which, had one groan escaped from agony,
Would all have sunk beneath our women's heels,
Unfit for earth or heaven. So try your heart,
And let endurance swallow all love's sighs.
Yoke up your valour with our people's cause,
And I, who love your nation, which is just,
When deeds deserve it, will adopt you here,
By ancient custom of our race, and join
Iena's hand to yours.
L EFROY . Your own hand first
In pledge of this!
T ECUMSEH . It ever goes with truth!
L EFROY . Now come some wind of chance and show me her
But for one heavenly moment! as when leaves
Are blown aside in summer, and we see
The nested oriole.

T ECUMSEH . My chiefs and braves!
M IAMI C HIEF . Fall back! Fall back! Ye press too close on him.
T ECUMSEH . My friends! our joy is like to meeting-streams,
Which draw into a deep and prouder bed.
D ELAWARE C HIEF . Silence, ye braves! let great Tecumseh speak!
T ECUMSEH . Comrades, and faithful warriors of our race!
Ye who defeated Harmar and St. Clair,
And made their hosts a winter's feast for wolves!
I call on you to follow me again,
Not now for war, but as forearmed for fight.
As ever in the past so is it still:
Our sacred treaties are infringed and torn;
Laughed out of sanctity, and spurned away;
Used by the Long-Knife's slave to light his fire,
Or turned to kites by thoughtless boys, whose wrists
Anchor their father's lies in front of heaven.
And now we're asked to Council at Vincennes;
To bend to lawless ravage of our lands,
To treacherous bargains, contracts false, wherein
One side is bound, the other loose as air!
Where are those villains of our race and blood
Who signed the treaties that unseat us here;
That rob us of rich plains and forests wide;
And which, consented to, will drive us hence
To stage our lodges in the Northern Lakes,
In penalties of hunger worse than death?
Where are they? that we may confront them now
With your wronged sires, your mothers, wives and babes,
And, wringing from their false and slavish lips
Confession of their baseness, brand with shame
The traitor hands which sign us to our graves.
M IAMI C HIEF . Some are age-bent and blind, and others sprawl,
And stagger in the Long-Knife's villages;
And some are dead, and some have fled away,
And some are lurking in the forest here,
Sneaking, like dogs, until resentment cools.
K ICKAPOO C HIEF . We all disclaim their treaties. Should they come,
Forced from their lairs by hunger, to our doors,
Swift punishment will light upon their heads.
T ECUMSEH . Put yokes upon them! let their mouths be bound!
For they are swine who root with champing jaws
Their fathers' fields, and swallow their own offspring.

Enter the P ROPHET in his robe — his face discoloured .

Welcome, my brother, from the lodge of dreams!
Hail to thee, sagest among men — great heir
Of all the wisdom of Pengasega!
P ROPHET . ( Aside. ) This pale-face here again! this hateful snake.
Who crawls between our people and their laws!
( To T ECUMSEH .) Your greeting, brother, takes the chill from mine,
When last we parted you were not so kind.
T ECUMSEH . The Prophet's wisdom covers all. He knows
Why Nature varies in her handiwork,
Moulding one man from snow, the next from fire —
P ROPHET . Which temper is your own, and blazes up,
In winds of passion like a burning pine.
T ECUMSEH . 'Twill blaze no more unless to scorch our foes.
My brother, there's my hand — for I am grieved
That aught befell to shake our proper love.
Our purpose is too high, and full of danger;
We have too vast a quarrel on our hands
To waste our breath on this.
P ROPHET . My hand to yours.
S EVERAL C HIEFS . Tecumseh and the Prophet are rejoined!
T ECUMSEH . Now, but one petty cloud distains our sky.
My brother, this man loves our people well.
L EFROY . I know he hates me, yet I hope to win
My way into his heart.
P ROPHET . There — take my hand!
( Aside. ) I must dissemble. Would this palm were poison!
( To T ECUMSEH .) What of the Wyandots? And yet I know!
I have been up among the clouds, and down
Into the entrails of the earth, and seen
The dwelling-place of devils. All my dreams
Are from above, and therefore favour us.
T ECUMSEH . With one accord the Wyandots disclaim
The treaties of Fort Wayne, and burn with rage.
Their tryst is here, and some will go with me
To Council at Vincennes. Where's Winnemac?
M IAMI C HIEF . That recreant has joined our enemies,
And with the peace-pipe sits beside their fire,
And whiffs away our lives.
K ICKAPOO C HIEF . The Deaf-Chief, too,
With head awry, who cannot hear us speak
Though thunder shouted for us from the skies,
Yet hears the Long-Knives whisper at Vincennes;
And, when they jest upon our miseries,
Grips his old leathern sides, and coughs with laughter.
D ELAWARE C HIEF . And old Kanaukwa — famed when we were young —
Has hid his axe, and washed his honours off.
T ECUMSEH 'Tis honour he has parted with, not honours;
Good deeds are ne'er forespent, nor wiped away.
I know these men; they've lost their followers,
And, grasping at the shadow of command,
Where sway and custom once had realty,
By times, and turn about, follow each other.
They count for nought — but Winnemac is true,
Though over-politic; he will not leave us.
P ROPHET . Those wizened snakes must be destroyed at once!
T ECUMSEH . Have mercy, brother — those poor men are old.
P ROPHET . Nay, I shall tease them till they sting themselves;
Their rusty fangs are doubly dangerous.
T ECUMSEH . What warriors are ready for Vincennes?
W ARRIORS . All! All are ready.
Tecumseh leads us on — we follow him.
T ECUMSEH . Four hundred warriors will go with me,
All armed, yet only for security
Against the deep designs of Harrison.
For 'tis my purpose still to temporize,
Not lightly break with him till once again
I scour the far emplacements of our tribes.
Then shall we close at once on all our foes.
They claim our lands, but we shall take their lives;
Drive out their thievish souls, and spread their bones
To bleach upon the misty Alleghanies;
Or make death's treaty with them on the spot,
And sign our bloody marks upon their crowns
For lack of schooling — ceding but enough
Of all the lands they covet for their graves.
M IAMI C HIEF . Tecumseh's tongue is housed in wisdom's cheeks;
His valour and his prudence march together.
D ELAWARE C HIEF . 'Tis wise to draw the distant nations on.
This scheme will so extend the Long-Knife force,
In lines defensive stretching to the sea,
Their bands will be but morsels for our braves.
P ROPHET . How long must this bold project take to ripen?
Time marches with the foe, and his surveyors
Already smudge our forests with their fires.
It frets my blood and makes my bowels turn
To see those devils blaze our ancient oaks,
Cry " Right! " and drive their rascal pickets down.
Why not make war on them at once?
T ECUMSEH . Not now!
Time will make room for weightier affairs.
Be this the disposition for the hour:
Our warriors from Vincennes will all return,
Save twenty — the companions of my journey —
And this brave white, who longs to share our toil,
And win his love by deeds in our defence.
You, brother, shall remain to guard our town,
Our wives, our children, all that's dear to us —
Receive each fresh accession to our strength;
And from the hidden world, which you inspect,
Draw a divine instruction for their souls.
Go, now, ye noble chiefs and warriors!
Make preparation — I'll be with you soon.
To-morrow we shall make the Wabash boil,
And beat its current, racing to Vincennes.
P ROPHET . I shall return unto our sacred lodge,
And there invoke the Spirit of the Wind
To follow you, and blow good tidings back.
T ECUMSEH . Our strait is such we need the help of heaven.
Use all your wisdom, brother, but — beware!
Pluck not our enterprise while it is green,
And breed no quarrel here till I return.
Avoid it as you would the rattling snake;
And, when you hear the sound of danger, shrink,
And face it not, unless with belts of peace.
White wampum, not the dark, till we can strike
With certain aim. Can I depend on you?
P ROPHET . Trust you in fire to burn, or cold to freeze?
So may you trust in me. The heavy charge
Which you have laid upon my shoulders now
Would weigh the very soul of rashness down.
T ECUMSEH . I think I can depend on him — I must!
Yet do I know his crafty nature well —
His hatred of our foes, his love of self,
And wide ambition. What is mortal man?
Who can divine this creature that doth take
Some colour from all others? Nor shall I
Push cold conclusions 'gainst my brother's sum
Of what is good — so let dependence rest!