Tecumseh: Or, the Warrior of the West: A Poem, in Four Cantos

Description

John Richardson’s “Tecumseh: Or, The Warrior of the West” was first published in London, England, in 1828, under the pseudonymous statement “By an English Officer.” The subject of this narrative poem is the famous Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh (“Shooting Star”), a persuasive orator and stout champion of Indian causes, respected by his own and white people alike.

The poem consists of four cantos, each with a varying number of stanzas, and each stanza comprised of eight lines in iambic pentameter, the rhyme scheme being that of Byron’s adaptation of the Italian “ottava rima.” The naval action on Lake Erie, in which the British force was defeated, forms the main subject of the opening canto.