The league of the Iroquois and other legends : from the Indian muse

THE WOOING. 93
Told of the serpent huge and dread
That from a tiny reptile grew ;
Of her whose hand the arrow sped,
Whose shaft the frightful monster slew ;
Of dear Winona's darker fate :
The maiden who, with heart so brave
Than him unknown, unloved, to wed
Chose death beneath the darkened wave.
Told,
so to show, in wedded life,
How needful to be mated well,
-
Of him that took a Bear to wife,
And of the ills that thence befell.
And glad they hearkened : while he spake
The listening hours unheeded wore.
Oh ! for the storied gift to wake
The spell of that diviner lore !
Whatever heights the tongue can reach
Of all-commanding eloquence,
But half is in the gift of speech,
For half is in the listening sense ;
Unto such ears he, speaking late,
Did all the seals of Knowledge loose,
Knowledge that doth on Wisdom wait
To widen life in Love and Use.