There are nineteen similar stanzas. The metre is formed of
Iambuses and Anapests.
The Hunter of the Prairies (fifty-six octosyllabic verses with
alternate rhymes) is a vivid picture of the life of a hunter in the
desert. The poet, however, is here greatly indebted to his subject.
The Damsel of Peru is in the fourteen syllable metre, and has a most
spirited, imaginative and musical commencement
Where olive leaves were twinkling in every wind that blew,
There sat beneath the pleasant shade a damsel of Peru.
This is also a ballad, and a very fine one-full of action, chivalry,
energy and rhythm. Some passages have even a loftier merit-that of a
glowing ideality. For example-
For the noon is coming on, and the sunbeams fiercely beat,
And the silent hills and forest-tops seem reeling in the heat.
The Song of Pitcairn's Island is a sweet, quiet and simple poem,
of a versification differing from that of any preceding piece. We
subjoin a specimen. The Tahetian maiden addresses her lover.
Come talk of Europe's maids with me
Whose necks and cheeks they tell
Outshine the beauty of the sea,
White foam and crimson shell.
I'll shape like theirs my simple dress
And bind like them each jetty tress,
A sight to please thee well
And for my dusky brow will braid
A bonnet like an English maid.
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