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

114 THE LEAGUE OF THE IBOQUOIS.
Love !
thou lendst a heightened charm
Not to the maiden's brow alone ;
No less upon his manly form
Thy all-ennobling presence shone,
With a celestial luster glowed,
His every feature lightened through ;
His very step, as forth he strode,
Seemed quickened with that rapture new.
As glad the orient's kindling glow
The hastening day betokens wide,
So beauty's rarer splendors show
The maiden ripening to the bride ;
Her bosom throbs more tenderly,
More rarely shines each maiden grace ;
More lovely than the maid, we see
The woman in the maiden face.
Love only love, a beauty wears ;
If touching but her shining hem
The plainest way-side damsel bears
More than a jewelled diadem.
And oh, what art can heighten more
The peerless charms that her adorn,
When she that was so fair before,
Transfigured, waits the nuptial morn !