An Indian Love Song

Light o’ the lodge, how I love thee,
Light o’ the lodge, how I love thee,
         Mianza, my wild-wood fawn!
To wait and to watch for thy passing.
          On hill-top I linger at dawn.

Glimmer of morn, how I love thee, 
Glimmer of morn, how I love thee! 
      My flute to the ground now I fling,
      As you tread the steep trail to the spring,
For thy coming has silenced my song.

Shimmer of moon on the river,
Sheen of soft star on the lake!
     Moonlight and starlight are naught;
     Their gleam and their glow is ne’er fraught
With such love-light as falls from thine eyes.

Credit

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on May 17, 2020 by the Academy of American Poets.

About this Poem

“An Indian Love Song” originally appeared in Yon-Doo-Shah-We-Ah (Nubbins) (Harlow Publishing Co., 1924).