To the Indian Meadow Lark. To a Robin. Sing out thy heart's delight, And mine of every sorrow.

There is more glory in a drop of dew, That shineth only for an hour, … 74 ALEX POSEY, THE CREEK INDIAN POET TO A ROBIN.

Out in the golden air, Out where the skies are fair, I hear a song of gladness. Sing, sweet bird, till the night, And come again tomorrow. 75 ALEX POSEY^ THE CREEK INDIAN POET THEDEW AND THE BIRD. Out in the Golden air, Out where the skies are fair, I hear a song of gladness, With never a note of sadness. With never note of sadness. Ring out thy heart’s delight, And mine of every sorrow! When other birds despairing southward fly, In early autumn time away; The robin trills a sweeter melody, Because you are just one year old today. Muscogee (Creek) writer and humorist Alexander Posey (1873-1908) lived most of his short but productive life in the Muscogee Nation, in what is now Oklahoma. He was an influential political spokesperson, an advocate for improving conditions in Indian Territory, and one of the most prominent American Indian literary figures of his era. He founded the Eufaula Indian Journal in 1901, the first Native American daily newspaper. Pity By Alexander Posey Contributor role: Author Included in: Song of the Oktahutche: Collected Poems University of Nebraska Press, 2008 PS PRIMARY SOURCE A primary source is a work that is being studied, or that provides first-hand or direct evidence on a topic. Sing, sweet bird, till the night, And come again tomorrow. Alexander Lawrence Posey (August 3, 1873 – May 27, 1908) was an American poet, humorist, journalist, and politician in the Creek Nation. The wind remembers, in his sweet refrains, Away, away up in the tossing trees, That you came in the world a year ago, And earth is filled with pleasant harmonies, And all things seem to say,