Page:Canadian poems of the great war.djvu/47

 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.

Through lonely space unmeasured They laid their sentry rings, Till every brood in eyrie rude Was shadowed by their wings. Tecumseh watched the eagles In summer o er the plain, And learned their cry, 'If freedom die, Ye will have lived in vain!'

The vision of Tecumseh, It could not long endure; He lacked the might to back the right And make his purpose sure. Tecumseh and his people Are gone; they could not hold Their league for good; their brotherhood Is but a tale that's told.

The eagles of Tecumseh Still hold their lofty flight, And guard their own on outposts lone Across the fields of light. They hold their valiant instinct And know their right of birth, They do not cede their pride of breed For things of little worth.

They see on earth below them, Where time is but a breath, Another race brought face to face With liberty or death.