Pocahontas and Other Poems (New York)/Last Words of an Indian Chief
LAST WORDS OF AN INDIAN CHIEF.
"He cometh! Death is here. Leave me alone!
Hence! hence! Ye shall not see me when I die,
If die I must. I would not that the men
Whom I have led to battle saw me yield
To any conqueror. Shall my warriors hear
From this undaunted breast the gasp or groan
As when a woman dies?
"How cold the dew
Starts o'er my temples! Wipe it not away.
Shame on your tears! Leave me alone with Death!
For I will meet him as a brave man should,
And hurl defiance at him.
"What is this?
Ha! He hath smote the lion! Was it well
To steal upon me in my unarm'd bed,
Most potent enemy? How hast thou cut
The nerve of that strong arm, which used to cleave
The proudest foeman like the sapling spray!
Oh friends! the dimness of the grave doth steal
Over those eyes, that as the eagle dared
The noontide sunbeam. Let me hear your voice
Once more! once more!
"In vain! The ear is seal'd
Which caught the rustle of the lightest leaf
Where the close ambush lay. Come back! come back!
Hear my last bidding, friends! Lay not my bones
Near any white man's bones. Let not his hand
Touch my clay pillow, nor his hateful voice
Sing burial hymns for me. Rather than dwell
In Paradise with him, my soul would choose
Eternal darkness and the undying worm.
Ho! heed my words, or else my wandering shade
Shall haunt ye with its curse!"
And so he died,
That pagan chief; the last strong banner-staff
Of the poor Senecas. No more the flash
Of his wild eloquence shall fire their ranks
To mortal combat. His distorted brow,
And the stern grapple when he sank in death,
Sadly they grave upon their orphan hearts,
As to their rude homes in the forest glade
Mournful they turn'd.