XIII.
He call’d her to his side, and said,
With kind and gentle tone,
‘Why does my daughter weep all day,
‘And wander thus alone?
‘These days are evil days, my child,
‘But long they will not last;
‘I would thou hadst a safe retreat
‘Till the raging storm be past.
‘Potomac’s skies are bright and blue,
‘Potomac’s groves are green,
‘And brightly roll Potomac’s waves
‘Her lovely banks between;
‘And gladly would King Japazaws
‘All friendly rites extend
‘To the daughter of King Powhatan,
‘His sovereign and his friend.
‘Then go, my child, and rest awhile
‘On fair Potomac’s side;
‘There will thy days glide gently on,
‘As the peaceful waters glide;
‘And there young health will come again
‘And kiss thy fading cheek,
‘And in thy cheerful voice once more
‘Thy mother’s soul will speak.
‘No sound of war will there disturb
‘Thy silent rest at night,
‘Nor wilt thou wake to the sight of blood
‘When comes the morning light.
‘And when from our dark-shadow’d land
‘The clouds shall all pass o’er,
‘And all these strange and dreadful foes
‘Are driven from our shore,
‘Thou’lt come again, all life and love,
‘In thy father’s lodge to rest,
‘And the closing days of Powhatan
‘Will yet be bright and blest.’
Thus spoke the monarch, and away
His gentle child has gone,
A weary way through pathless woods,
Like a lost and lonely fawn;
And now, a sweet transplanted flower,
She breathes the balmy air
On fair Potomac’s sunny banks,
And sheds her fragrance there.
END OF CANTO SIXTH.