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

108 THE LEAGUE OF THE IBOQUOIS.
And like the rising morning grew
The larger brightness of his face,
When at the dawn he came and drew
His Chee-maun from its hiding-place ;
That, as with yearning heart elate,
The springing tide more lightly pressed
-
Danced on the wave, as loth to wait
To bear him on his loving quest.
It erst had many a storm withstood ;
Had borne him in the days before
To slay the monsters of the flood
Great Ke-ka-dah-nong on the shore ;
And far on many a stranger sea :
Wherever most might knowledge loose
Her sacred seal, or glory be ;
But now should prove its nobler use.
It parts the shore : Lo ! sapphire-lit,
Swift on the rippling wave it drew ;
As o'er the mere the shadows flit
Of clouds that sail the summer blue ;
The parted waves like rubies showed,
More softly lapsed the sighing marge ;
The kindling dawn more golden glowed,
-
A warmer wish impelled the barge.