XIII.
And now within the council-hall,
And by the monarch’s throne,
Around in rich profusion spread,
The royal presents shone.
There stood Sir John with four arm’d men,
And the captain of the sea,
But the monarch’s warriors in the hall
Were a hundred men and three.
The queens of twenty tribes appear,
And in their midst they bring
Two maidens bright to grace the scene,
The daughters of the king.
And there in his great dignity
Sat Powhatan alone,
In the broad circle that was made
Around the monarch’s throne;
And while his people peer’d and press’d
Those splendid gifts to see,
He never moved his princely eyes,
But kept his dignity.
And when Sir John the signal gave
For the monarch to come down,
And, standing by the throne, receive
The robe of state and crown,
With motion slow and lofty air
He stepp’d upon the floor,
And as he pass’d, with careless eye
He glanced the presents o’er.