ARBOR DA V MAN DAL. 
255 
MON-DA-MIN; 
OR, THE ROMANCE OF MAIZE. 
S O grew Oss6o, as a lonely pine, 
That knows the secret of the wandering breeze, 
And ever sings its canticles divine, 
Uncomprehended by the other trees ; 
And now the time drew nigh, when he began 
The solemn fast whose issue proves the man. 
His father built a lodge the wood within, 
Where he the appointed space should duly bide, 
Till such propitious time as he had been 
By faith prepared, by fasting purified, 
And in mysterious dreams allowed to see 
What God the guardian of his life would be. 
The anxious crisis of the Spring was past, 
And warmth was master o’er the lingering cold*, 
The alder’s catkins dropped: the maple cast 
His crimson bloom, the willow’s gowny gold 
Blew wide, and softer than a squirrel’s ear 
The white-oak’s foxy leaves began appear. 
There was a motion in the soil. A sound 
Lighter than falling seeds, shook out of flowers, 
Exhaled where dead leaves, sodden on the ground, 
Repressed the eager grass ; and there for hours 
Oss&o lay, and vainly strove to bring 
Into his mind the miracle of Spring. 
The wood-birds knew it, and their voices rang 
Around his lodge; with many a dart and whir 
•Of saucy joy, the shrewish catbird sang 
Full-throated — and he heard the kingfisher, 
Who from his God escaped with rumpled crest, 
And the white medal hanging on his breast. 
The aquilegia sprinkled on the rocks 
A scarlet rain ; the yellow violet 
:Sat in the chariot of its leaves ; the phlox 
Held spikes of purple flame in meadows wet, 
And all the streams with vernal-scented reed 
Were fringed, and streaky bells of miskodeed. 
