Page:Pocahontas, and Other Poems.djvu/31

Rh .

A throng is gathering; for the hallow'd dome,

At evening tide, is rich with sparkling light,—

And from its verdant bound each rural home

Sends forth its blossom'd gifts, profusely bright;

While here and there, amid the clustering flowers,

Some stately chief or painted warrior towers,

Hail'd as a brother, 'mid the festal rite:

Peace waves her garland o'er the favour'd place

Where weds the new-born West with Europe's lordly race.

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A group before the altar.—Breathe thy vow,

Loving and stainless one,—without a fear;

For he who wins thee to his bosom now,

Gem of the wild, unparallel'd, and dear,

Will guard thee ever, as his treasure rare,

With changeless tenderness and constant care;—

How speaks his noble brow a soul sincere,

While the old white-hair'd king, with eye of pride,

Gives to his ardent hand the timid, trusting bride.

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Not with more heartfelt joy the warlike bands

Of Albion, spent with long, disastrous fray,

Beheld young Tudor cleanse his blood-stain'd hands,

And lead the blooming heir of York away,