Where the rain-plover sung
In the dark under glooms,
And cool, cool ran the prairie river.
And gayly their sun-dance the Illini kept,
And boastful they rested at eve in the dews,
But nearer and nearer their wily foes crept,
And the cool river filled with their rocking canoes.
Seven suns lit the day; seven moons lit the night;
Then fled from the Illini’s faces the joy;
For the water was low, and the springs sunk from sight,