Page:A treasury of war poetry, British and American poems of the world war, 1914-1919.djvu/191

 Rh

ECUMSEH of the Shawnees

He dreamed a noble dream,—

A league to hold their freedom old

And make their peace supreme.

He drew the tribes together

And bound them to maintain

Their sacred pact to stand and act

For common good and gain.

The eagles taught Tecumseh

The secret of their clan,—

A way to keep o'er plain and steep

The liberty of Man.

The champions of freedom

They may not weary soon,

Nor lay aside in foolish pride

The vigilance of noon.

Those teachers of Tecumseh

Were up to meet the dawn,

To scan the light and hold the height

Till the last light was gone.

Like specks upon the azure,

Their guards patrolled the sky,

To mount and plain and soar again

And give the warning cry.

They watched for lurking perils,

The death that skulks and crawls,

To take by stealth their only wealth

On wind-swept mountain walls.

They did not trust the shadows

That sleep upon the hill;

Where menace hid, where cunning slid,

They struck—and struck to kill.