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

NYAH-TAH-WANTA. 73
In snowy kirtle tasseled gay,
And furry mantle quilled and dyed,
Her hand had wrought so cunningly
From many a Jit-sho's furry hide ;
In scarlet leggins fringed with blue,
In painted moccasins beaded grand,
You would have thought her as was true-
The comeliest maid in all the land.
Though well she knew to plait and braid,
And skilled to make or cloak or gown,
The richest robe that her arrayed,
The beauty that is beauty's crown,
That does the fairest best adorn,
Was hers in wigwam-tented wood :
The common virtues lowly born,
Of simple, modest maidenhood.
When on the greening wild away
Her lightsome footsteps flitted free,
She seemed a joyous forest-fay
A dusky woodhmd-fairy she ;
And more the while the happy maid,
When gladness woke her simple art,
Went singing through the windy glade
The songs that fluttered at her heart.