The Minnesotian. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1851-1852, 1851-12-06

boundaries OF Minnesota anu a. the poem Is per
to most OF our readers, We Imagine 1t will inter
The author is, we believe, son, or at least
tive Of the late Colonel Smelling, in honor Of W
Smelling was namcd.l
THE BIRTH OF THUNDER.
by w. J. SMELLING.
LOOK, white man, well on all around,
These hoary oaks, those bound IS plains;
Tread iighly; this is holy ground:
Here Thunder, awful spirit reigns.
Look on those waters far below,
So deep beneath the prairie sleeping,
The summer suns meridiar glow
Scarce warns the sands their waves are hes
And scarce the bitter blast can blow
In winter on their Icy cover;
The wind Sprfte may not stoop so low,
But bows his head and passes over.
Psrch'd on the top OF yonder pine,
The hero4'S billow-searching eye
Can scarce his funny prey descry,
Glad leaping where their colours shine.
Those lakes, whose shores but now We trod,
Sears deeply on earth's bosom dintei,
Are the strong impress of Of a god,
By Thmder's giant foot Imprinted.
Nay, stranger. as live, 'tis truth!
The lips Of those who never lied,
Repeat II daily to our youth.
Famed heroes, erst my natiou's pride,
Beheld the wonder; and our sages
Gave down the tale to after ages.
Dost not believe? though blooming fair
The f,oweretS court the hreezes Gov,
Though now the Sweet-grass scents the air,
And sunny nature baSks in Joy,
1t is not ever 50.
Come when the lightning flashes,
Come when the forest crashes,
When ShrickS Of pain and wo
Rrpak on tby ear-drun thick and fact.
From ghosts that shiver In the blast;
Then shalt thou know and bend the knee
Before the angry deity.
But now attend, while unfold -
The lore my brave forefathers Taught;
As yet the storm. the heat, the col1,
The changing seasons had not brought,
Famine was not; each tree and grot
Grew greener for the rain;
The wanton doe, the buffalo,
Blihe bounded on the plain.
In mirth did man the hours employ
OF tina: eternal spring:
With song and dance. and shouts OF Joy,
Did hill and valley ring.
No death-shot peafd upon the ear,
No painted warrior poised the spear,
No stake-doOmed captive shook iUr lear;
No arrow left the string.
Save when the wolf TO earth was borne;
From foeman's head scalp was torn;
Nor did the pangS of hate and scorn
The red mans bosom wiring.
Then waving fields of yellow corn
Did our Dless'd villages adorn.
Alas that man will never learn
His good from evil TO discern.
Al length, hy furious passions driven,
The Indian left his babes and wife,
And every blessing GOD has given,
To mingle in the deadly strife.
Fierce Wrath and haggari Envy soon
Achieved the work that War begun;
He left, unsought the hea>t of chase,
And prey'd upon his kindred race
But He who rules the earth and skies,
Who watches every bolt that flies;
From whom all gifts, all blessings flow,
With grief beheld the scene below.
Ec wept: and. as the baimy shower
Refreshing to the ground descended,
Each drop gave being to Il flower,
And all the hills in homage bended.
"Alas.' the good Great Spirit said,
s.Man merits not the clmes gave;
Where'er a hitlock rears its head,
He digs his broiher's timeless grave:
To every crystal rill OF wafer,
He gives the crimson stain of Slaughter.
No more for him my brow shall wear
a constant, glad, approving smile;
All, no! my eyes must whitening glare
On bloody hands and deeds OF guile.
Henceforth shall my lost spirit know
The piercing wind. the binding SHOW;
The storm shall drcnch. the sun shall burn,
The winter freeze III, M, each in turn.
Henceforth their feeble frames shall feel
A climate like their hearts Of Steel"
The moon that night withheld her light.
BY fits, instead. lurid glare
Iiiumed the skies; while mortal ewes
Were closed, and voices rose in prayer.
While the revolving sun
Three times his course might run,
The dreadful darknes, lasted;
And all that time the red mans eve
A sleeping spirit might espy,
Upon a tree-top craiied high,
Whose trunk his breath had blasted.
SO long he slept, he grew so last,
Beneath his weight the gnarled oak
Snapp'd, as the tempest snaps the mast.
1t fell, and Thunder woke!
The world to its foundation shook,
The grisly bear his prey forseok,
The scOwling heaven an aspect bore
That man bad never seen before;
The wolf in terror fled away,
And shone at last the light Of day.
'Twas here he stood; these lakes attest
Where first WAW KEE-hN'S footsteps press'd
About his burning brow a cloud,
Black as the ravens wing, he wore;
Thick tempests wrapt him like a shroud,
Red lightnings in his hand he bore;
Like two bright SUMS his eyebals shone,
His voice was like the canon's tone;
And, where he bi ea,hed, the land became,
Prairie and wood, one sheet Of fame.
Not long upon this mountain height
The first and worst Of storms abode,
For, moving in his fearful might,
Abroad the GOD begotten strobe.
Afar, on yonder faint blue mound,
In the horiZon's utmost bound,
At the first stride his foot he set;
The jarring world confessed the shock.
Strangert the track Of Thunder yet
Remains upon the living rock.
The second step, he gain'd the sand
On far Superiur's storm beat stand:
Then with his shout the concave rung,
As up to heaven the giant sprung
On high, beside his sire to dwell;
But still, of all the spots on earth,
He loves the woods that gave him BIRTH
Such is the tale our fathers tell.