Bring down for them the elk or roe,
Whose hatchet shall defend their home
When hostile tribes with war-cries come!
Oh! spare the white chief, that his voice
His wife’s sad bosom may rejoice;
Oh! spare him, that his hand may dry
The teardrop in his mother’s eye!”
But stern the Indian’s answer; vain
Her pleading words, her warm endeavour,
The murderers’ clubs are raised again