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OD bless the man who first invented
sleep!"

So Sancho Panza said, and so say
I;

And bless him, also, that he didn't
keep

His great discovery to himself, nor try

To make it as the lucky fellow mightA close monopoly by patent-right!

Yes,-bless the man who first invented sleep, (I really can't avoid the iteration;)

But blast the man with curses loud and deep,

Whate'er the rascal's name or age or station,

Who first invented, and went round advising, That artificial cut-off,-Early Rising!

Rise with the lark, and with the lark to bed,"

Observes some solemn, sentimental owl; Maxims like these are very cheaply said; But, ere you make yourself a fool or fowl, Pray just inquire about his rise and fall, And whether larks have any beds at all!

"The time for honest folks to be abed
Is in the morning, if I reason right;
And he who cannot keep his precious head
Upon his pillow till it's fairly light,
And so enjoy his forty morning winks,
Is up to knavery, or else he drinks !

Thomson, who sung about the "Seasons," said

It was a glorious thing to rise in season; But then he said it-lying--in his bed,

At ten o'clock, A. M.,--the very reason He wrote so charmingly. The simple fact is, His preaching wasn't sanctioned by his practice.

'Tis doubtless, well to be sometimes awake,—— Awake to duty, and awake to truth,— But when, alas! a nice review we take Of our best deeds and days, we find, in sooth,

The hours that leave the slightest cause to

weep

Are those we passed in childhood, or asleep!

'Tis beautiful to leave the world awhile

For the soft visions of the gentle night;

342

HIAWATHA'S JOURNEY.

And free, at last, from mortal care or guile, To clip his morning nap by hackneyed

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HIAWATHA'S JOURNEY.

343

Heart and hand that move together,
Feet that run on willing errands!"

Smiling answered Hiawatha:
"In the land of the Dacotahs
Lives the Arrow-maker's daughter,
Minnehaha, Laughing Water,
Handsomest of all the women,
I will bring her to your wigwam,
She shall run upon your errands,
Be your starlight, moonlight, firelight,
Be the sunlight of my people!"

Still dissuading said Nokomis : "Bring not to my lodge a stranger From the land of the Dacotahs! Very fierce are the Dacotahs, Often is there war between us, There are feuds yet unforgotten, Wounds that ache and still may open!"

Laughing answered Hiawatha: *For that reason, if no other, Would I wed the fair Dacotah, That our tribes might be united, That old feuds might be forgotten, And old wounds be healed forever!"

Thus departed Hiawatha

To the land of the Dacotahs,

To the land of handsome women; Striding over moor and meadow, Through interminable forests, Through uninterrupted silence.

With his moccasins of magic, At each stride a mile he measured; Yet the way seemed long before him, And his heart outran his footsteps; And he journeyed without resting, Till he heard the cataract's laughter, Heard the Falls of Minnehaha Calling to him through the silence. "Pleasant is the sound!" he murmured, 'Pleasant is the voice that calls me!"

On the outskirts of the forest, 'Twixt the shadow and the sunshine, Herds of fallow deer were feeding,

But they saw not Hiawatha;
To his bow he whispered, "Fail not!"
To his arrow whispered, "Swerve not!"
Sent it singing on its errand,

To the red heart of the roebuck;
Threw the deer across his shoulder,
And sped forward without pausing.

At the doorway of his wigwam Sat the ancient Arrow-maker, In the land of the Dacotahs, Making arrow-heads of jasper, Arrow-heads of chalcedony. At his side, in all her beauty, Sat the lovely Minnehaha, Sat his daughter, Laughing Water, Plaiting mats of flags and rushes ; Of the past the old man's thoughts were, And the maiden's of the future.

He was thinking, as he sat there, Of the days when with such arrows He had struck the deer and bison, On the Muskoday, the meadow; Shot the wild goose, flying southward, On the wing, the clamorous Wawa; Thinking of the great war-parties, How they came to buy his arrows, Could not fight without his arrows. Ah, no more such noble warriors Could be found on earth as they were! Now the men were all like women, Only used their tongues for weapons!

She was thinking of a hunter,
From another tribe and country,
Young and tall and very handsome,
Who one morning in the Spring-time,
Came to buy her father's arrows,
Sat and rested in the wigwam,

| Lingered long about the doorway,
Looking back as he departed.
She had heard her father praise him,
Praise his courage and his wisdom;
Would he come again for arrows
To the falls of Minnehaha?
On the mat her hands lay idle,
And her eyes were very dreamy.

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