He did not die a coward, For oft his rifle rang, And twice amid the foemen The loud scalp-song he sang. And when the death-shot struck him, ’Twas from no ignoble hand, But came from e’en the bravest Of all the hostile band.
I knew thou wert a chieftain, And amid my grief and pain I strove to train thee up to win Me vengeance for the slain. But now our might is broken, And we must leave his grave For a land lying far away Beyond the western wave.
There thou may’st be happy— A wife as firm and true As I was to thy father Thy hunter’s bed may strew; But I will not see thee In thy father’s place, my son, Proudly wearing at thy knee Trophies thou hast won.
There thou may’st be happy As here our people were, For it is a pleasant land, They call this scarce as fair. More blesséd than thy father, Thou may’st see thy children men, March with them to battle-fields And lead them home again.
But I feel my heart is breaking, And in a little time I shall return where he is Beneath the shadowy pine; Yet if you wear the eagle plume I will see it, though unseen, And bless the new land in the west With its plains of living green.
Her woman wail was over, and silently they stood, Until the deepening shadows hid the forest and the flood, Then sunk they sadly on the deck, their breasts bereft of hope, And the vessel bore them onward like an eagle in its scope.
[1] This is not an unusual sight in Florida, where there is no twilight, and the eastern portion of the horizon becomes dark immediately after sunset. I remember once at Boca-Sornsota seeing the sun and moon’s light both distinctly marked on the crest of the huge palm which all who served at that post will recall.
[2] Tampa Bay was called by the Spanish discoverers _La Bahia del Espiritu Santo_.
[4] I may for aught I know violate in this Indian song all the regulations of metre and rhythm. I have however adopted the octosyllabic line with consonance, because it seemed to me not unlike the wild _motive_ of the Indian chaunt.
[5] San Juan, the great outlet of Lake George, is pronounced _San Wan_.
[6] The Seminole were of the Muscogee race, and sometimes called themselves by the latter name.
[7] _Albati_ is the Muscogee name of the alligator.