THE UNBOUGHT SEMINOLE
Beneath the turban of a tall palmetto,
Thy scattered warriors kneel,
Grim pilgrims at their gallant heart’s Loretto,
With votive bead and steel.
Upon their hearts, broad bucklers of alliance,
The scars are greenly dim’d—
Dread gaps, dread syllables of fierce defiance
Upon the tiger-limbed.
Apart from all, of all the goodliest number
Are widowed ones, alas!
In vain, in vain ye watch for those who slumber
In lagoon and morass.
A giant mound, with untold ages hoary
Outspiraling the strand,
Bears thee, great chieftain, like a steed of glory,,
Upon the spirit-land.
From the grey summit of Time’s stateliest mountain,
Age, throned amid the rocks,
Had shot the avalanche of a thousand fountains
In silver down thy locks.
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