Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE INDIAN DEATH WAIL, by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON First Line: All the village of rikawrus Last Line: Beats the aching heart of man. Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Native Americans - History; West (u.s.) - Exploration | ||||||||
All the village of Rikawrus Is a pageant of mirth, As a band of Cheyenne warriors, With their painted shield and girth, Ride and chant a song of triumph, All in war paints bloody red, With a crest of eagle feathers Bristling gayly from each head. Hear the dance and savage music Roman revel gone insane Old and young in gaudy trappings Painted demons "raising Cain." Scalps and trophies, shields and banners Deck the wigwams and the trees Shouting heralds spread the tidings Of the recent victories. Bonfires glare in garish glee, Ghoulish shadows farther crawl, Till a silence suddenly O'er the feasting seems to fall. From the bleak and barren mountain, Looming grim upon the plain, Comes a wail upon the night wind Like a desert ghost in pain. Worse than wail of starving panther, Dismal as from doomèd souls, Louder, longer, wilder, weirder, Wave on wave the anguish rolls. They are poor, defenseless women Women wailing for their dead Hungry, cold, and all forsaken Winter's blast upon their head. One by one had they departed, When a runner first revealed That a husband, son, or lover Had been left upon the field. Lonely Chip-pe-wy-an Mountains Mock the cadence of their cry If the wolf-pack soon assembles They will neither fight nor fly. Tell me not, O sordid Saxon, That an Indian cannot feel That the "font of his affections Has been frozen cold as steel." True, he has been dwarfed and hardened Made to drink life's bitter mead, Made the target of the tempest, And the victim of our greed. But, Shoshone or Cheyenne, Sioux, Nez Percé, Powhatan Still beneath the stoic breast Beats the aching heart of man. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SA-CA-GA-WE-A; THE INDIAN GIRL WHO GUIDED LEWIS AND CLARK by EDNA DEAN PROCTOR ON THE DISCOVERIES OF CAPTAIN LEWIS [JANUARY 14, 1807] by JOEL BARLOW WHITMAN'S RIDE FOR OREGON by HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH MIRAGE - THE PASSING WEST by ELIZABETH GARBUTT OREGON HOLLY by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON THE ALBANY CHAUTAUQUA by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON THE OLD BARLOW ROAD by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON THE VISIT OF THE FLEET by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON THE WESTWARD MARCH by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON A HUSTLE FOR THE FAIR by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON |
|