Narrative and Legendary Poems, Complete

THE RED RIPER VOYAGEUR.

     OUT and in the river is winding
     The links of its long, red chain,
     Through belts of dusky pine-land
     And gusty leagues of plain.

     Only, at times, a smoke-wreath
     With the drifting cloud-rack joins,—
     The smoke of the hunting-lodges
     Of the wild Assiniboins.

     Drearily blows the north-wind
     From the land of ice and snow;
     The eyes that look are weary,
     And heavy the hands that row.

     And with one foot on the water,
     And one upon the shore,
     The Angel of Shadow gives warning
     That day shall be no more.

     Is it the clang of wild-geese?
     Is it the Indian's yell,
     That lends to the voice of the north-wind
     The tones of a far-off bell?

     The voyageur smiles as he listens
     To the sound that grows apace;
     Well he knows the vesper ringing
     Of the bells of St. Boniface.

     The bells of the Roman Mission,
     That call from their turrets twain,
     To the boatman on the river,
     To the hunter on the plain!

     Even so in our mortal journey
     The bitter north-winds blow,
     And thus upon life's Red River
     Our hearts, as oarsmen, row.

     And when the Angel of Shadow
     Rests his feet on wave and shore,
     And our eyes grow dim with watching
     And our hearts faint at the oar,

     Happy is he who heareth
     The signal of his release
     In the bells of the Holy City,
     The chimes of eternal peace!

     1859