John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892.
Narrative and Legendary PoemsThe Red River Voyageur
O
The links of its long, red chain,
Through belts of dusky pine-land
And gusty leagues of plain.
With the drifting cloud-rack joins,—
The smoke of the hunting-lodges
Of the wild Assiniboins!
From the land of ice and snow;
The eyes that look are weary,
And heavy the hands that row.
And one upon the shore,
The Angel of Shadow gives warning
That day shall be no more.
Is it the Indian’s yell,
That lends to the voice of the north-wind
The tones of a far-off bell?
To the sound that grows apace;
Well he knows the vesper ringing
Of the bells of St. Boniface.
That call from their turrets twain,
To the boatman on the river,
To the hunter on the plain!
The bitter north-winds blow,
And thus upon life’s Red River
Our hearts, as oarsmen, row.
Rests his feet on wave and shore,
And our eyes grow dim with watching
And our hearts faint at the oar,
The signal of his release
In the bells of the Holy City,
The chimes of eternal peace!