Page:Poems of home and travel (IA poemsofhometrave00tayl).pdf/259



.—For the Indian legend embodied in this poem, the author is indebted to the very curious and valuable "Algic Researches" of Mr. Schoolcraft. He has added nothing to the simple and beautiful story of the Origin of Maize, as there related,—a story which charmed him the more, from its unexpected grace and symmetry, in the midst of so many grotesque and exaggerated forms of tradition.