Page:Poems Sigourney, 1834.pdf/22

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A remnant of the once-powerful tribe of Mohegan Indians, have their residence in the vicinity of the city of Norwich, Conn., and on the ruins of an ancient fort in their territory, a small church has been erected,— principally through the influence of the benevolence of females.

those hills, with verdure spread, The red-browed hunter's arrow sped, And on those waters, sheen and blue, He freely launch'd his light canoe, While through the forests glanced like light The flying wild-deer's antler bright. —Ask ye for hamlet's people bound, With cone-roofed cabins circled round? For chieftain grave,—for warrior proud, In nature's majesty unbowed? You've seen the fleeting shadow fly, The foam upon the billows die, The floating vapour leave no trace, Such was their path—that fated race.

Say ye that kings, with lofty port, Here held their stern and simple court? That here, with gestures rudely bold, Stern orators the throng controlled? —Methinks, even now, on tempest wings, The thunder of their war-shout rings, Methinks springs up, with dazzling spire, The redness of their council fire.