Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE INDIAN HUNTER, by ELIZA COOK


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE INDIAN HUNTER, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, why does the white-man follow my path
Last Line: Who never did harm to him.
Variant Title(s): Song Of The Red Indian
Subject(s): Native Americans; Racism; Indians Of America; American Indians; Indians Of South America; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


Oh, why does the white-man follow my path,
Like the hound on the tiger's track?
Does the flush on my dark cheek waken his wrath?
Does he covet the bow on my back?
He has rivers and seas, where the billows and breeze
Bear riches for him alone;
And the sons of the wood never plunge in the flood
Which the white-man calls his own.

Why, then, should he come to the streams where none
But the red-skin dare to swim?
Why, then, should he wrong the hunter one,
Who never did harm to him?
The Father above thought fit to give,
The white-men corn and wine:
There are golden fields where they may live,
But the forest shades are mine

The eagle hath its place of rest,
The wild-horse where to dwell;
And the Spirit that gave the bird its nest,
Made me a home as well.
Then back, go back from the red-man's track,
For the hunter's eyes grow dim
To find that the white-man wrongs the one
Who never did harm to him.





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