Doetry A Dagazine of Verse FEBRUARY, 1917 VOL. IX No. V VALONG THE SOUTH STAR TRAIL THE TOM-TOM RUM-BEAT, beat of drums, Pebble feet on drifting sand . . . I have lost the wife-made robe of bear-skin . . . Take the prize-mine the loss. Have I lost too the courage of the black bear— Lul-la-by, Games' queer lullaby O robe of mine! O luck of mine! Drum-beat, beat of drums, Pebble-rattle in the gourd, Coyote feet upon the plain. Drum-beat, beat of drums Coyotes crushed the tender ham-string and the bone. A bull-calf bawls, dies alone. Where are the herds of buffalo and the hides, By Wounded Knee ye buried them, buried them- By Wounded Knee we buried them, buried them. Lul-la-by, The white man's lullaby. O race of mine! O brothers mine! Drum-beat, beat of drums, Pebble-rattle in the gourd, Pulse-beat in the fever. Drum-beat, beat of drums Famine drank from the gourd bottle, ate the gourd; Left the skin, the bone. The Tom-tom She walked the pathway from the east, of the departed Drum-beat, beat of drums, Still feet in the grave-mound. . . The gourd-rattle handle leads to the sun and life; A purple smoke arises from bowl to float on winds; One half the feather of Tirawa's bird is white; The other black-'tis night; Tirawa's song at night is morning star of dawn Lul-la-by, The spirit's lullaby O breath of mine! Drum-beat, beat of drums, Pebble-rattle in the gourd, Calves' feet in starry plains. Drum-beat, beat of drums A sacred herd graze on tips of fair fresh flowers In garden-Star of Evening's. A bison drinks mixed all-waters, pure From Spring; 'tis hers Lul-la-by, All-Life's lullaby. . . O land of mine! O plains of mine! Drum-beat, beat of drums, Pebble-rattle in the gourd, Dance-feet 'round the sun Drum-beat, beat of drums— By the sun see the dancing white men with the redBy Wounded Knee, a post! There they blend their songs together, brother-wise; Here the post, the paint Lul-la-by, The Nation's lullaby. . . O race of mine! O brothers mine! The Tom-tom Drum-beat, beat of drums, A child has taught her little spider pet to weave A child has taught these dimming eyes to see Drum-beat, beat of drums Hear the great sea-feet, beating on the flint-rock! Hear the beat of distant feet on South Star Trail! Ti-ra-wa! Earth's great Ti-ra-wa. O heart-beat thine! O drum-beat thine! |