To grasp their weapons all that gathering through;

When, lo! they opened like a parting tide,

And once again their murmurs lulled and died.

VII.

And Williams paused; for, from the severed crowd,

A chief advancing trod the breathing plain;

Bold was his port, his bearing high and proud,

A lance of length did his right hand sustain;

The glittering wampum did his brows enshroud,

His nodding plumage wore a crimson stain;