The Onondaga Madonna

She stands full-throated and with careless pose,

This woman of a weird and waning race,

The tragic savage lurking in her face,

Where all her pagan passion burns and glows;

Her blood is mingled with her ancient foes,

And thrills with war and wildness in her veins;

Her rebel lips are dabbled with the

Of feuds and forays and her father's woes.

And closer in the shawl about her breast,

The latest promise of her nation's doom,

Paler than she her baby clings and lies,

The primal warrior gleaming from his eyes;

He sulks, and burdened with his infant gloom,

He draws his heavy brows and will not rest.

Composition date is unknown - the above date represents the first publication date.

Form: sonnet: abbaaccadeffed.1.

Onondaga: native people originally found in New York and Canada.