RECEPTION OF INDIAN CHIEFS.
187
The savage through our busy cities walks, — |
He in his untouched grandeur silent stalks. |
Unmoved by all our gaieties and shows, |
Wonder nor shame can touch him as he goes; |
He gazes on the marvels we have wrought, |
But knows the models from whence all was brought; |
In God's first temples he has stood so oft, |
And listened to the natural organ loft — |
Has watched the eagle's flight, the muttering thunder heard, |
Art cannot move him to a wondering word; |
Perhaps he sees that all this luxury |
Brings less food to the mind than to the eye; |
Perhaps a simple sentiment has brought |
More to him than your arts had ever taught. |
What are the petty triumphs Art has given, |
To eyes familiar with the naked heaven? |
All has been seen — dock, railroad, and canal, |
Fort, market, bridge, college, and arsenal, |
Asylum, hospital, and cotton mill, |
The theatre, the lighthouse, and the jail. |
The Braves each novelty, reflecting, saw, |
And now and then growled out the earnest yaw. |
And now the time is come, 'tis understood, |
When, having seen and thought so much, a talk may do some good. |
A well-dressed mob have thronged the sight to greet, |
And motley figures throng the spacious street; |
Majestical and calm through all they stride, |
Wearing the blanket with a monarch's pride; |
The gazers stare and shrug, but can't deny |
Their noble forms and blameless symmetry. |