Upon the barren sand <br />A single captive stood; <br />Around him came, with bow and brand, <br />The red-men of the wood. <br />Like him of old, his doom he hears, <br />Rock-bound on ocean's rim: <br />The chieftain's daughter knelt in tears, <br />And breathed a prayer for him. <br /> <br />Above his head in air <br />The savage war-club swung: <br />The frantic girl, in wild despair, <br />Her arms about him flung. <br />Then shook the warriors of the shade, <br />Like leaves on aspen limb-- <br />Subdued by that heroic maid <br />Who breathed a prayer for him. <br /> <br />'Unbind him!' gasped the chief-- <br />'Obey your king's decree!' <br />He kissed away her tears of grief, <br />And set the captive free. <br />'Tis ever thus, when, in life's storm, <br />Hope's star to man grows dim, <br />An angel kneels in woman's form, <br />And breathes a prayer for him.<br /><br />George Pope Morris<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-chieftain-s-daughter/
