Fireside Dreams - Pauline Johnson - Austin F. Leyland

Fireside Dreams

(Pauline Johnson) Tekahionwake

When the northern winds amoaning,

Through the branches of the pine

And the snarl of timber wolf is heard,

Above the bellowing kind

Then my thought go roaming down

A snow white winding trail

And in my pleasant dreaminess

I see you there again.

I see you on the river

In your silver birch canoe

And in fancy I can hear the songs

Your paddle sang to you

Then as the daylight slowly waned

And teepee called you home

You walked beneath the pine and fir

Where I now walk alone.

When the rain is pitter-pattering

On the leaded window panes

The tinkle of the cascades fall

Is borne to me again

And to walk the ground untrodden

Save by swiftly running beast

I only need to close my eyes

Then the vision is complete.

When the northern lights are gleaming

In the misty Arctic sky

And the sun has cast its shadow

Across the quiet earth to lie

I see the stars un-numbered

And I'm wondering if their stare

Means that I must stop my dreaming

When I know that you are there.

- Austin F. Leyland.