Tempt me not, stranger, with gold from the mine,
I have got treasure more precious than thine;
Freedom in forest, and health in the chase,
Where the hunter sees beauty in Nature's bright face,
Then give me my arrows and give me my bow,
In the wild woods to rove where the blue rapids flow.
If gold had been good The Great Spirit had giv'n
That gift, like his others, as freely from Heav'n:-
The lake gives me Whitefish;-the deer gives me meat,
And the toil of the capture gives slumber so sweet:-
Then give me my arrows and give me my bow,
In the wild woods to rove where the blue rapids flow.
Why seek you death in the dark cave to find
While there's life on the hill in the health-breathing wind?
And death parts you soon from your treasure so bright-
As the gold of the sunset is lost in the night:-
Then give me my arrows and give me my bow,
In the wild woods to rove where the blue rapids flow.