Chapter III

With a light heart, and step as light,
He soon retraced his homeward route,
And there the ship was full in sight,
And all the colonists were out
And gazing off upon the river.
With pious thankfulness some lift
Their eyes and hands to the great Giver
Of every good and perfect gift;
Some, wild with joy, run here and there,
Grasping each other’s eager hand;
Some with quick motion beat the air,
And some like moveless statues stand.
Slowly the ship comes sailing on,
And now she rides abreast the town;
The sailors up the shrouds have gone,
The ponderous anchor plunges down,
And curbs her gently to the breeze,
Like a proud steed that feels the bit;
And now she heads the rippling seas,
And her furling sails on the long yards flit.
A light boat launches from the shore,
Each oarsman nimbly plies his oar
Across the waters, bright and clear.
The tall ship rapidly they near,
And soon, half lost to view, they glide
To the deep shadow of her side,
Where the rocking boat seems but a speck;
Man after man mounts to the deck,
And here Sir John with joyous smile
Greets Newport from Britannia’s isle.

IV.

A thousand questions now are ask’d,
And a thousand answers given;
Sir John tells how with savages,
And famine, he has striven;
How in his light and open barge,
With scarce a dozen men,
He had scour’d the mighty Chesapeake,
Round all her shores had been,
And up the rivers from the bay
To where the waters fall,
And seen the wild and warlike tribes,
And dared the power of all.

V.

Then Captain Newport told what joy
King James’s heart had known,
That such a goodly land as this
Was added to his throne;
And that to make the savage tribes
With English power content,
To their great chieftain, Powhatan,
King James by him had sent
Rich, royal presents, such as kings
Of power and dignity
Might to a royal brother make;
Gold rings, rich cutlery,
A robe of state of finest woof
And of a scarlet red,
And a sparkling crown thick-set with gems,
Fit for a monarch’s head.
And as the kings had worn no crowns
As yet in this new land,
It was King James’s special will,
And thus he gave command,
That Captain Newport and Sir John
This kingly crown should see
Placed on the head of Powhatan
With due solemnity.
Now on the shore in merry bands
Light-hearted sailors roam,
And listening ears of colonists
Are fill’d with news from home.

VI.

The council-hall of Powhatan
In quietness was closed;
And in his warmer winter lodge
The aged chief reposed:
And when the piercing northwest wind
The crevices came through,
He closer drew his robe of fur,
And fed his fire anew.
And when upon his cabin wall
His glowing fire grew bright,
And brighter still, betokening
The coming on of night,
The monarch took his usual round
Through hall and lodge and yard,
To see that all was well secured,
And set his nightly guard.
First to the east and then the west
He glanced his restless eye,
The trees were rocking in the wind,
Dark clouds were in the sky,
And well the experienced monarch saw
In their motion and their form,
And heard along the groaning hills,
The spirit of the storm.