tory of Nebraska, and styled by topographers half a century ago as part of the Great American Desert.
The names and descriptions of the Great Spirit and the Guardian Spirits of Nebraska are taken from the Mythology of the Lakotah Indians, which is closely followed in the statement by their own special Guardian. The part played by the returning goldhunters is included in the story of the goddess who prepared the soil to welcome man. The devastations of war, fire, pestilence, and famine, are portrayed as the writer has lived them in that country, which is now under the sway of "the brighest of the gods."
The hidden springs of Life from man the Gods conceal;
But to the rev'rent seeker they at times unseal
The mysteries of Fate; or these in dreams reveal.
Thus o'er the story of Nebraska, musing long,
Lifting the veils of sense with passion strong,
As in a mystic fount I saw the Vision of my Song.
THE GARDEN OF THE GODS.
Hidden from all unopened eyes a glen appeared:—
From its green base rough snow-clad mountains reared
Their giant heads, as if some spirit hand
Had hurled them there in strength, and bade them stand,
Stern guardians of the trysting-place below,
And of the secrets none but gods might know.
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