The course of life is like the sea:
Men come and go; tides rise and fall;
And that is all of history.
The tide flows in, flows out to-day,—
And that is all that man may say;
Man is, man was,— and that is all.
Revenge at last came like a tide,—
‘ Twas sweeping, deep, and terrible;
The Christian found the land, and came
To take possession in Christ's name.
For every white man that had died
I think a thousand red men fell,—
A Christian custom; and the land
Lay lifeless as some burned-out brand.