ON RHODE ISLAND COAL. Dark anthracite ! that reddenest on my hearth, Thou in those island mines didst slumber long But now thou art come forth to move the earth, And put to shame the men that mean thee wrong. Thou shalt be coals of fire to those that hate thee, And warm the shins of all that under-rate thee. Yea, they did wrong thee foully-they who mocked And grew profane-and swore, in bitter scorn, Yet is thy greatness nigh. I pause to state, And I have seen--not many months ago— An eastern Governor in chapeau bras And military coat, a glorious show! Ride forth to visit the reviews, and ah! How oft he smiled and bowed to Jonathan ! How many hands were shook and votes were won! 'Twas a great Governor--thou too shalt be Great in thy turn--and wide shall spread thy fame, 211 212 ON RHODE ISLAND COAL. And swiftly; farthest Maine shall hear of thee, And cold New-Brunswick gladden at thy name, And, faintly through its sleets. the weeping isle That sends the Boston folks their cod shall smile. For thou shalt forge vast railways, and shalt heat Thou shalt make mighty engines swim the sea, The moving soul of many a spinning-jenny, Then we will laugh at winter when we hear The grim old churl about our dwellings rave: Thou, from that "ruler of the inverted year," Shalt pluck the knotty sceptre Cowper gave, And pull him from his sledge, and drag him in, And melt the icicles from off his chin. AN INDIAN AT THE BURIAL-PLACE OF HIS FATHERS. It is the spot I came to seek,-- Ere from these vales, ashamed and weak, Withdrew our wasted race. It is the spot,-I know it well- For here the upland bank sends out The meadows smooth and wide, The plains, that, toward the southern sky, A white man, gazing on the scene, Between the hills so sheer. I like it not-I would the plain 214 AN INDIAN AT THE BURIAL-PLACE The sheep are on the slopes around, And prancing steeds, in trappings gay, Methinks it were a nobler sight To see these vales in woods arrayed, And then to mark the lord of all, The forest hero, trained to wars, This bank, in which the dead were laid, Brought wreaths of beads and flowers, But now the wheat is green and high OF HIS FATHERS. And scattered in the furrows lie The weapons of his rest, And there, in the loose sand, is thrown Ah, little thought the strong and brave, That the pale race, who waste us now, They waste us-ay-like April snow Till they shall fill the land, and we But I behold a fearful sign, To which the white men's eyes are blind; Their race may vanish hence, like mine, And leave no trace behind, Save ruins o'er the region spread, And the white stones above the dead. Before these fields were shorn and tilled, The melody of waters filled The fresh and boundless wood; 215 |