Alice Corbin. Indian Songs. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Verse > Anthologies > Harriet Monroe, ed. > Poetry: A Magazine of Verse, 1912–22

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

Indian Songs

By Alice Corbin


LISTENING THE NOISE of passing feet
On the prairie—
Is it men or gods
Who come out of the silence?

BUFFALO DANCE Strike ye our land	5
With curved horns!
Now with cries
Bending our bodies,
Breathe fire upon us;
Now with feet	10
Trampling the earth,
Let your hoofs
Thunder over us!
Strike ye our land
With curved horns!	15

WHERE THE FIGHT WAS In the place where the fight was
Across the river,
In the place where the fight was
Across the river:
A heavy load for a woman	20
To lift in her blanket,
A heavy load for a woman
To carry on her shoulder.
In the place where the fight was
Across the river,	25
In the place where the fight was
Across the river:
The women go wailing
To gather the wounded,
The women go wailing	30
To pick up the dead.

THE WIND The wind is carrying me round the sky;
The wind is carrying me round the sky.
My body is here in the valley—
The wind is carrying me round the sky.	35

COURTSHIP When I go I will give you surely
What you will wear if you go with me;
A blanket of red and a bright girdle,
Two new moccasins and a silver necklace.
When I go I will give you surely	40
What you will wear if you go with me!

FEAR The odor of death
In the front of my body,
The odor of death
Before me—	45

Is there any one
Who would weep for me?
My wife
Would weep for me.

PARTING Now I go, do not weep, woman—	50
Woman, do not weep;
Though I go from you to die,
We shall both lie down
At the foot of the hill, and sleep.

Now I go, do not weep, woman—	55
Woman, do not weep;
Earth is our mother and our tent the sky.
Though I go from you to die,
We shall both lie down
At the foot of the hill, and sleep.	60

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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