Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
Geronimo
By Ernest McGaffey (b. 1861)B
In majesty alone he stands
As some chained eagle, broken-winged,
With eyes that gleam like smouldering brands;
A savage face, streaked o’er with paint,
And coal-black hair in unkempt mane,
Thin, cruel lips, set rigidly—
A red Apache Tamerlane.
Yet here he stands like carven stone,
His raven locks by breezes moved
And backward o’er his shoulders blown;
Silent, yet watchful as he waits,
Robed in his strange, barbaric guise,
While here and there go searchingly
The cat-like wanderings of his eyes.
Is dull with many a bloody stain,
While darkly on his lowering brow
Forever rests the mark of Cain;
Have you but seen a tiger caged,
And sullen through his barriers glare?
Mark well his human prototype,
The fierce Apache fettered there.