Emily Pauline Johnson [or Tekahionwake]

The daughter of a Mohawk chief and an English woman, Emily Pauline Johnson was born on March 10, 1861, on the Six Nations reserve near Brantford, in Ontario, Canada. Her father, George Johnson, worked as an interpreter

Pilot of the Plains, The

by Emily Pauline Johnson [or Tekahionwake] (1886–1913)

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‘False,’ they said, ‘thy Pale-face lover, from the land of waking morn;

Rise and wed thy Redskin wooer, nobler warrior ne'er was born;

Cease thy watching, cease thy dreaming,

Show the white thine Indian scorn.’

Thus they taunted her, declaring, ‘He remembers naught of thee:

Likely some white maid he wooeth, far beyond the inland sea.’

But she answered ever kindly,

‘He will come again to me,’

Till the dusk of Indian summer crept athwart the western skies;

Click here for complete poem

Poets Book of Days

November 14

The New Republic publishes Langston Hughes' "Ballad of Roosevelt", 1934

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Poetry Trivia

Question:

Who has been identified as Europe's first professional female writer? And in what century was she writing?

Answer

Christine de Pisan developed her reputation as a writer from 1399 to 1430. Born in Venice, she worked for the king of France as an astrologer, physician and alchemist. Aphra Behn is considered one of the first English women to be a professional writer.

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