THE SONG OF HUGH GLASS
I
GRAYBEARD AND GOLDHAIR
The year was eighteen hundred twenty three.
‘Twas when the guns that blustered at the Ree
Had ceased to brag, and ten score martial clowns
Turned from the unwhipped Aricara towns,
Earning the scornful laughter of the Sioux.
A withering blast the arid South still blew,
And creeks ran thin beneath the glaring sky;
For ‘twas a month ere honking geese would fly