{
 "id": "mary-weston-fordham/the-cherokee",
 "title": "The Cherokee",
 "ordinal": null,
 "subtitle": null,
 "poet": "Mary Weston Fordham",
 "poet_slug": "mary-weston-fordham",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "Magnolia Leaves",
 "book_slug": "magnolia-leaves",
 "book_kind": "volume",
 "sequence": 36,
 "container": null,
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1897,
  "venue": "Magnolia Leaves (1897)",
  "note": "First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established.",
  "uncertain": false,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/magnolialeavespo00ford"
  ]
 },
 "source": {
  "kind": "standard-ebooks",
  "repo": "standardebooks/mary-weston-fordham_magnolia-leaves",
  "file": "magnolia-leaves.xhtml",
  "upstream": [
   "https://scalar.lehigh.edu/african-american-poetry-a-digital-anthology/mary-weston-fordham-magnolia-leaves-full-text-1897-preface-by-booker-t-washington",
   "https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006775637"
  ],
  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-20"
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 48,
  "n_stanzas": 6,
  "n_parts": 0,
  "longest_line_chars": 48,
  "max_indent": 1
 },
 "site_ready": true,
 "parts": [],
 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "’Twas a cloudless morn and the sun shone bright,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And dewdrops sparkled clear;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "And the hills and the vales of this Western land",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Were wreathed with garlands rare.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "For verdant spring with her emerald robe",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Had decked the forest trees;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Whilst e’er and anon the vine-clad boughs",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Waved in the playful breeze.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "All, all was still, not a sound was heard,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Save the music of each tree,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "As gracefully it bent and bowed",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Its branches o’er the lea.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "But hark! a sound, ’tis the Red man’s tread,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Breaks on the silent air;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "And a sturdy warrior issues forth,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Robed in his native gear.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And wandering on, he neared the brook;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Then sat him down to rest;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "’Twas a noble sight⁠—that warrior free⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That Monarch of the West.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "He gazed around. O! a wistful gaze",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Saddened his upturned brow,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "As he thought of those he’d fondly loved,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of those now laid so low.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "He mused aloud “Great Spirit!” list",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To the Indian’s earnest plea;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "And tell me why, from his own loved home,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Must the Indian driven be.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "When the “Pale Face” came to our genial clime,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We wondered and were glad;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Then hied us to our chieftain’s lodge,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Our noble “Flying Cloud.”",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "We told him all, and he calmly said",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He’d gladly give them place;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "And if friends they proved, perchance, extend",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The calumet of peace.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "But soon, alas! the dread truth rang",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That the Pale Face was our foe;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "For he made our warriors bite the dust⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Our children lie so low.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "So now, my own, dear, sunny land,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Each, woodland and each dell,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Once the Indian’s home, now the Indian’s grave,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "I bid a last farewell.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "To the “Great Spirit’s” hunting-ground,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To meet my long-lost bride,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "My “Raven Wing” I gladly hie⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He said, then calmly died.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ]
 ]
}