Ohio History Journal
Tecumseh. 497
says her husband was killed fighting by
the side of Tecumseh in the
battle of the Thames, but Shane speaks
of him, as quoted by Drake, as
Tecumseh's "friend and
brother-in-law, Wasegoboah." It would appear
from this that Masonville had united
with the Indians, assumed an In-
dian name and became- reconciled to
Tecumseh. Shane further states
that after the War of 1812 Tecumsapease
went to Quebec (probably with
her nephew Pugeshashenwa) whence after a
time she returned to Detroit
where she died. A few years ago (1884)
some of her descendants were
still living in Missouri.
TECUMSEH.
[From the poem by Jessie F. V. Donnell
in the Magazine of Western
Western History.]
True son of the forest, whose towering
form
Imaged the pine in the wind-driven
storm;
Whose eye, like the eagle's pierced keen
and far,
Or burned with the light of a fiery
star;
Whose voice was the river's tempestuous roar,
The surging of waves on a pitiless
shore.
His tongue was a flame that leapt
through the West,
Enkindling a spark in each rude savage
breast;
The wind of the prairies, resistless and
free,
Was the breath of his passionate
imagery;
Ah! Never were poet's dreams more grand,
Nor even a Caesar more nobly planned!
His brain was as broad as the prairies'
sweep;
His heart like a mountain-cavern deep,
Where silent and shadowed the water
lies,
Yet mirrors a gleam from the star-strewn
skies;
His soul ablaze with a purpose high,
Disdain of possessions, scorn of a lie.
What was Tecumseh? A threatening cloud
Over the untrodden wilderness bowed,
Vol. XV.-*32.
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498 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. Bringing the storm in its desolate train, Heralding rush of the hurricane! Such to his foes; to his friends a spark, That a moment gleamed through the gathering dark.
A comet-flash through a midnight sky; The wail of the wind as it hurried by; The flight of a bird on its untamed wings,- All wild, resistless, impetuous things Symbol, though faintly, that barbaric guide Who led forth to freedom, and failed, and died. * * * Was Tecumseh then but a failure? A light That faded for aye in eternity's night? Will the sons of the forest forget their pride, Forget that a hero still he died? Defeat is not a failure when spirits are brave; God wastes not the spark his divinity gave.
Great souls are not made for failure; they fall, But God in his patience regathers them all; Like stars they are set in the dimness of time To illumine the world with their light sublime; And while glimmers a ray from the mightiest star, The soul of Tecumseh shall shine from afar. |
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