Forth into the village went he,
Bade farewell to all the warriors,
Bade farewell to all the young men,
Spake persuading, spake in this wise:
I am going, O my people,
On a long and distant journey;
Many moons and many winters

Will have come, and will have vanished.
Ere I come again to see you.
But my guests I leave behind me;
Listen to their words of wisdom,
Listen to the truth they tell you,
For the Master of Life has sent them
From the land of light and morning!'

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200

On the shore stood Hiawatha, Turned and waved his hand at parting; On the clear and luminous water Launched his birch canoe for sailing, From the pebbles of the margin Shoved it forth into the water; Whispered to it, Westward! westward!' And with speed it darted forward.

And the evening sun descending
Set the clouds on fire with redness,
Burned the broad sky, like a prairie,
Left upon the level water

One long track and trail of splendor,
Down whose stream, as down a river,
Westward, westward, Hiawatha
Sailed into the fiery sunset,

210

I remember the sea-fight far away,'
How it thundered o'er the tide !
And the dead captains, as they lay

In their graves, o'erlooking the tranquil bay
Where they in battle died.

And the sound of that mournful song
Goes through me with a thrill:

'A boy's will is the wind's will,

41

There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak,

And bring a pallor into the cheek,

And a mist before the eye.

And the words of that fatal song

70

Come over me like a chill: 'A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

Strange to me now are the forms I meet When I visit the dear old town;

But the native air is pure and sweet,
And the trees that o'ershadow each well-
known street,

As they balance up and down,
Are singing the beautiful song,
Are sighing and whispering still:
'A boy's will is the wind's will,

8a

thoughts.'

3 A dinner was given to Agassiz on his fiftieth birthday, at which Longfellow presided, and poems were read by Longfellow, Holmes, and Lowell.

See Longfellow's Noel,' and 'Three Friends of Mine,' Lowell's Agassiz,' Whittier's 'The Prayer of Agassiz,' Holmes's A Farewell to Agassiz' and 'At the Saturday Club,' aud T. W. Parsons's Sonnet,' Agassiz.'

A WIND came up out of the sea,
And said, 'O mists, make room for me.'

It hailed the ships, and cried, 'Sail on,
Ye mariners, the night is gone.'

And hurried landward far away,
Crying, 'Awake! it is the day.'

It said unto the forest, Shout!
Hang all your leafy banners out!'

It touched the wood-bird's folded wing,
And said, 'O bird, awake and sing.'
And o'er the farms, 'O chanticleer,
Your clarion blow; the day is near.'

It whispered to the fields of corn, 'Bow down, and hail the coming morn.'

It shouted through the belfry-tower, 'Awake, O bell! proclaim the hour.'

ΙΟ

IN the Old Colony days, in Plymouth the land of the Pilgrims,

To and fro in a room of his simple and primitive dwelling,

Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of Cordovan leather,

Strode, with a martial air, Miles Standish

the Puritan Captain.

Buried in thought he seemed, with his hands behind him, and pausing Ever and anon to behold his glittering weapons of warfare,

Hanging in shining array along the walls of the chamber,

Cutlass and corselet of steel, and his trusty sword of Damascus,

Curved at the point and inscribed with its

mystical Arabic sentence,

While underneath, in a corner, were fowling-piece, musket, and matchlock. 10 Short of stature he was, but strongly built and athletic,

Broad in the shoulders, deep-chested, with muscles and sinews of iron;

Brown as a nut was his face, but his russet beard was already

Flaked with patches of snow, as hedges sometimes in November. Near him was seated John Alden, his friend and household companion Writing with diligent speed at a table of pine by the window; Fair-haired, azure-eyed, with delicate Saxon complexion,

Having the dew of his youth, and the

beauty thereof, as the captives

1 Priscilla's reply to John Alden was a well-known tradition before Longfellow took up the story. Longfellow himself, and also the poet Bryant, were descendants of John and Priscilla Alden. For the details of colonial life, Longfellow followed especially Elliott's History of New England, which he read in 1857. (Life, vol. ii, pp. 328-329.)

Whom Saint Gregory saw, and exclaimed, 'Not Angles, but Angels.'

Youngest of all was he of the men who came in the Mayflower.

20

Suddenly breaking the silence, the diligent scribe interrupting,

6

Spake, in the pride of his heart, Miles Standish the Captain of Plymouth. 'Look at these arms,' he said, the warlike weapons that hang here Burnished and bright and clean, as if for parade or inspection !

This is the sword of Damascus I fought with in Flanders; this breastplate, Well I remember the day! once saved my life in a skirmish;

Here in front you can see the very dint of the bullet

Fired point-blank at my heart by a Spanish arcabucero.

Had it not been of sheer steel, the forgotten bones of Miles Standish

30

Would at this moment be mould, in their grave in the Flemish morasses.' Thereupon answered John Alden, but looked not up from his writing: Truly the breath of the Lord hath slackened the speed of the bullet; He in his mercy preserved you, to be our shield and our weapon!'

Still the Captain continued, unheeding the words of the stripling:

'See, how bright they are burnished, as if in an arsenal hanging; That is because I have done it myself, and not left it to others.

Serve yourself, would you be well served, is an excellent adage;

So I take care of my arms, as you of your pens and your inkhorn.

Then, too, there are my soldiers, my great, invincible army,

Twelve men, all equipped, having each his rest and his matchlock,

40

Out of the Latin translated by Arthur Goldinge of London,

And, as if guarded by these, between them was standing the Bible.

Musing a momont before them, Miles Standish paused, as if doubtful Which of the three he should choose for his consolation and comfort, Whether the wars of the Hebrews, the famous campaigns of the Romans, Or the Artillery practice, designed for belligerent Christians.

Finally down from its shelf he dragged the ponderous Roman,

Seated himself at the window, and opened the book, and in silence

Turned o'er the well-worn leaves, where thumb-marks thick on the margin, Like the trample of feet, proclaimed the

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battle was hottest. Nothing was heard in the room but the hurrying pen of the stripling, Busily writing epistles important, to go by the Mayflower,

Ready to sail on the morrow, or next day at latest, God willing!

Homeward bound with the tidings of all that terrible winter,

Letters written by Alden, and full of the name of Priscilla !

Full of the name and the fame of the Puritan maiden Priscilla!

II

LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP

NOTHING was heard in the room but the hurrying pen of the stripling,

Or an occasional sigh from the laboring heart of the Captain,

Reading the marvellous words and achievements of Julius Cæsar.

After a while he exclaimed, as he smote with his hand, palm downwards, Heavily on the page: A wonderful man was this Cesar!

You are a writer, and I am a fighter, but here is a fellow