I
The sun sets in night, and the stars shun the day;
But glory remains when their lights fade away!
Begin, ye tormentors! your threats are in vain,
For the son of Alknomook shall never complain.
II
Remember the arrows he shot from his bow;
Remember your chiefs by his hatchet laid low:
Why so slow?—do you wait till I shrink from the pain?
No—the son of Alknomook will never complain.
III
Remember the wood where in ambush we lay;
And the scalps which we bore from your nation away:
Now the flame rises fast, you exult in my pain;
But the son of Alknomook can never complain.
IV
I go to the land where my father is gone;
His ghost shall rejoice in the fame of his son:
Death comes like a friend, he relieves me from pain;
And thy son, Oh Alknomook! has scorn'd to complain.
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The following is a copy of an email I sent to you. I am posting a copy here in case it doesn't reach you through the address provided.
Mr. Frederick Dame,
Here is a link to a site which credits Royall Tyler with the poem 'The Death Song Of Alknomook'
authorsdirectory.com/c/tcntr10.htm
Of course, I can't can't vouch for the accuracy of this site, but it will give you someplace to continue your research. I would like to highlight one part to bring it to your attention.
The illustration to the song of Alknomook is from
music published contemporaneously with the play.
This song had long the popularity of a national air and
was familiar in every drawing-room in the early part
of the century. Its authorship has been accredited
both to Philip Freneau and to Mrs. Hunter, the wife
of the celebrated English physician, John Hunter. It
was published as by Freneau in the American Museum,
where it appears (with slight changes from the version
in the 'Contrast') in vol. I., page 77. But Freneau
never claimed to have written it, and never placed it
among his own collections of his poems, several editions
of which he made long after the 'Contrast' was pub-
lished. Mrs. Hunter's poems were not printed till
1806, and the version of the song there printed is an
exact copy as given in the play. This song also ap-
peared in a play, entitled, 'New Spain, or Love in
Mexico,' published at Dublin in 1740. After consider-
able research, I have become convinced that Alkno-
mook is the offspring of Tyler's genius.
'The Contrast' was written in 1787, the poem in question is in act I, scene II. Mrs. Hunter's poems were not printed untill 1806, that doesn't mean she couldn't have written it before that. I'm not going to try to lay claim one way or the other. I'm just presenting the facts which were used to justify credting this poem to Royall Tyler rather than Anne Hunter. I believe Alknomook is the product of Tyler's imagination which would explain why you can't find and information about him. If you find evidence to prove that OldPoetry is wrong, I will make the necessary changes. We always strive for accuracy.
Daniel Christensen
Director,
OldPoetry.com -
Dear Old Poetry PErsonality:
Reference my previous e-mail concerning The Death Song of Alknomook. Recheck and correct my e-mail addrsss. It is F.W.Dame@web.de. There is no colon after F and W -
I'm doing research on a book about American Identity. What makes you think that the poem the "Death Song of Alknomook" was written by Royall Tyler. All of the sources that I ahve been able to locate say it is the product of Anne Home Hunter. Have you got a source that you can give me for referenc? Moreover, do you know who Alknomook was? In some sources he is a Cherokee Indian. The Museum of the Cherokees and the Smithsonian Institution have no record of him, neither as a member of their tribe/nation, nor as a chief. I'd appreciate an answer as soon as possible.
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