| James and Mary Ford, eds. Every Day in the Year. 1902. | | | | September 4 | | Geronimo | | By Ernest McGaffey (1861– ) |
| | | | Chief of the Apaches. Captured by General Miles on Sept. 4, 1886. |
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BESIDE that tent and under guard | |
| In majesty alone he stands | |
| As some chained eagle, broken-winged | |
| With eyes that gleam like smouldering brands; | |
| A savage face, streaked o’er with paint, | 5 |
| And coal-black hair in unkempt mane, | |
| Thin, cruel lips, set rigidly— | |
| A red Apache Tamerlane. | |
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| As restless as the desert winds, | |
| Yet here he stands like carven stone, | 10 |
| His raven locks by breezes moved | |
| And backward o’er his shoulders blown; | |
| Silent, yet watchful as he waits | |
| Robed in his strange, barbaric guise, | |
| While here and there go searchingly | 15 |
| The cat-like wanderings of his eyes. | |
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| The eagle feather on his head | |
| Is dull with many a bloody stain, | |
| While darkly on his lowering brow | |
| Forever rests the mark of Cain; | 20 |
| Have you but seen a tiger caged | |
| And sullen through his barriers glare? | |
| Mark well his human prototype, | |
| The fierce Apache fettered there. | | | |
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