Classic Poem

Sadly droops his eagle crest upon him,
Idly hangs the quiver from the branches,
Broken are the arrows ere they flitted
From the hostile hand of young Sehbohleh;
Trills the mocking-bird across the woodland,
Pipes the partridge calling to her young ones,
Darts the rabbit fleetly o'er his pathway,
And the brown eyes of the timid roebuck
Peer unfrightened from the tangled covert.
Dead the scattered coals beside the wigwam,
Gone the rippling laughter of Wanola,
Falls a hush upon the tribe of Natchez,
For the trodden turf without the dwelling
Knows no more the bride of young Sehbohleh.
Calls in vain the piping to the hunter,
Peers in vain the deer from out the covert,
For the ear that hears them lists above them,
And the eye that sees them looks beyond them,
Far across the boundary of the Natchez,
Where the hostile Creeks hold high their revels,
Where the bride Wanola weeps a captive;
And he sees the fair brow scarred and corded,
And the soft arms lashed with thongs and pinioned;
Sees the idle feet upon the deerskin, —
Willing feet that bounded oft to meet him, —
Hears the moan from lips all drawn with anguish,
Ere his loyal kiss had cooled upon them.
Sees the blood that quivers ere it trickles
From the bosom where his head had rested;
And the eyes that see are dark with teardrops,
And the eyes that gaze are bright with anger;
Bends the bow above the tightened cording,
Twangs the bowstring 'neath the speeding arrow,
Leaps the brave into the tangled woodland,
And the darkness of the coming twilight
Bears a vow upon its sable pinions.