Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/109

Rh young warrior. The party were going to the young chief's funeral. As the canoe glided on amid the still fishermen of other tribes, the Indian maiden began to sing. It was a strange song, of immortality, and of spiritual horizons beyond the visible life. The Umatillas have poetic minds. … She sang in Chinook, and the burden of her song was that horizons will lift forever in the unknown future. The Chinook word tamala means 'tomorrow'; and tomorrow, to the Indian mind, was eternal life. … The thought of the song was something as follows:"

Aha! it is ever tomorrow, tomorrow—
 * Tamala, tamala, sing as we row;

Lift thine eye to the mount; to the wave give thy sorrow;
 * The river is bright, and the rivulets flow;
 * Tamala, tamala,
 * Ever and ever;

The morrows will come and the morrows will go—
 * Tamala! Tamala!

Happy boat, it is ever tomorrow, tomorrow—
 * Tamala, whisper the waves as they flow;

The crags of the sunset the smiles of light borrow,
 * As soft from the ocean the Chinook winds blow:
 * Tamala, tamala,
 * Ever and ever;

The morrows will come and the morrows will go—
 * Tamala! Tamala!

Aha! the night comes, but the light is tomorrow—
 * Tamala, tamala, sing as we go;

The waves ripple past, like the heart-beats of sorrow,
 * And the boat beats the wave to our song as we row;
 * Tamala, tamala,
 * Ever and ever;

The morrows will come and the morrows will go—
 * Tamala! Tamala!

For ever and ever horizons are lifting—
 * Tamala, tamala, sing as we row;

And life toward the stars of the ocean is drifting,