One generous chief a bow supplied, This gave a shaft, and that a skin; The feathers, in vermillion dyed, Himself did from a turkey win: Thus dressed so gay, he took his way O'er barren hills, alone, alone! His guide a star, he wandered far, His pillow every night a stone. At last he came, with foot so lame, Where learned men talk heathen Greek, And Hebrew lore is gabbled o'er, To please the Muses,--twice a week. Awhile he writ, awhile he read, Awhile he conned their grammar rules-- (An Indian savage so well bred Great credit promised to the schools.) Some thought he would in law excel, Some said in physic he would shine; And one that knew him, passing well, Beheld, in him, a sound Divine. But those of more discerning eye Even then could other prospects show, And saw him lay his Virgil by To wander with his dearer bow. The tedious hours of study spent, The heavy-moulded lecture done, He to the woods a hunting went, Through lonely wastes he walked, he run. No mystic wonders fired his mind; He sought to gain no learned degree, But only sense enough to find The squirrel in the hollow tree. The shady bank, the purling stream, The woody wild his heart possessed, The dewy lawn, his morning dream In fancy's gayest colours dressed. "And why (he cried) did I forsake "My native wood for gloomy walls; "The silver stream, the limpid lake "For musty books and college halls. "A little could my wants supply-- "Can wealth and honour give me more; "Or, will the sylvan god deny "The humble treat he gave before? "Let seraphs gain the bright abode, "And heaven's sublimest mansions see-- "I only bow to Nature's God-- "The land of shades will do for me. "These dreadful secrets of the sky "Alarm my soul with chilling fear-- "Do planets in their orbits fly, "And is the earth, indeed, a sphere? "Let planets still their course pursue, "And comets to the centre run-- "In Him my faithful friend I view, "The image of my God--the Sun. "Where Nature's ancient forests grow, "And mingled laurel never fades, "My heart is fixed;--and I must go "To die among my native shades." He spoke, and to the western springs, (His gown discharged, his money spent, His blanket tied with yellow strings,) The shepherd of the forest went.[366] [365] The 1788 version bore under the title the motto: "_Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes; Flumina amem, sylvasque inglorius._" VIRG. Georg. II. V. 483. [366] The 1788 version has this additional stanza: "Returning to this rural reign The Indians welcom'd him with joy; The council took him home again, And bless'd the copper-colour'd boy." THE MAN OF NINETY