Niagara. A Poem/Niagara
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
NIAGARA.
I.
Grandest of Nature's works, her wildest wreck,
Or stateliest shrine! What ear, Niagara,
Thrills not? what eye unstartled shall survey
Thy loud and raging waters, as they break
Full o'er the fearful precipice, and whelm
Thy sea-green Naiads a in the gulf below?
Through many a stormy lake, b and boundless realm,
And well-fought field c thy winding currents flow,
Watering the woods, and herds, and creatures rude,
That haunt thy brink their hasty draught to steal;
And now for toil or pastime, float or keel,
Smooth as a glass expands th' united flood; d
That youth deluded by the flattering gleam,
Might trust with arm secure the tameness of thy stream.
Or stateliest shrine! What ear, Niagara,
Thrills not? what eye unstartled shall survey
Thy loud and raging waters, as they break
Full o'er the fearful precipice, and whelm
Thy sea-green Naiads a in the gulf below?
Through many a stormy lake, b and boundless realm,
And well-fought field c thy winding currents flow,
Watering the woods, and herds, and creatures rude,
That haunt thy brink their hasty draught to steal;
And now for toil or pastime, float or keel,
Smooth as a glass expands th' united flood; d
That youth deluded by the flattering gleam,
Might trust with arm secure the tameness of thy stream.
II.
But, lo! the rocks—and, like a maniac moved,
At once thy rage begins, and all around
Vex'd by th' obstreperous waves thy shores resound;
Check'd by the steadfast reef, as one reproved,
More fierce the torrent raves, and flings his froth
Aloft, and tosses on his flinty bed.
Ill fares the wretch, e who there by night misled,
Strives with strain'd oar against its matchless wrath:
For close before him sinks the dreadful steep;
O'er which th' Herculean stream f shall quickly hurl
Him and his struggling bark, with headlong whirl,
Dash'd on the turrets of the craggy deep,
Many a dark fathom down. The stunning roar
Ontario's g ramparts shakes, and Erie's distant shore.
At once thy rage begins, and all around
Vex'd by th' obstreperous waves thy shores resound;
Check'd by the steadfast reef, as one reproved,
More fierce the torrent raves, and flings his froth
Aloft, and tosses on his flinty bed.
Ill fares the wretch, e who there by night misled,
Strives with strain'd oar against its matchless wrath:
For close before him sinks the dreadful steep;
O'er which th' Herculean stream f shall quickly hurl
Him and his struggling bark, with headlong whirl,
Dash'd on the turrets of the craggy deep,
Many a dark fathom down. The stunning roar
Ontario's g ramparts shakes, and Erie's distant shore.
III.
For as th' incessant and ear-rending clang,
When war's red bolt conflicting navies urge,
Rolls round the brows and caverns, that o'erhang
The main, and mingles with the plunging surge:
Or as 'mongst Alpine or Ceraunian peaks
His angry trump the midnight thunder blows;
And rocks, and vales, and woods, and towering snows,
Fling round the restless peal, while o'er them breaks
From all heav'ns windows sluiced the rushing shower:
Such noises loud and deep for ever rave
Among those foaming waters, as they pour
Down on that wrathful and tormented cave, h
Their smouldering crater, in whose ample bound
As in some caldron huge they burst and boil around.
When war's red bolt conflicting navies urge,
Rolls round the brows and caverns, that o'erhang
The main, and mingles with the plunging surge:
Or as 'mongst Alpine or Ceraunian peaks
His angry trump the midnight thunder blows;
And rocks, and vales, and woods, and towering snows,
Fling round the restless peal, while o'er them breaks
From all heav'ns windows sluiced the rushing shower:
Such noises loud and deep for ever rave
Among those foaming waters, as they pour
Down on that wrathful and tormented cave, h
Their smouldering crater, in whose ample bound
As in some caldron huge they burst and boil around.
IV.
Up flies the steaming spray, and on the flood
Sheds the dire umbrage of its winding shroud;
Yet ere to heaven it wreathes its hoary cloud, i
Far off conspicuous, In her wildest mood
Sweet Iris k wantons there, and sketches gay
Many a bright segment of her tinted bow,
That float their moment till the breezes blow
The draft and shadowy tablet both away.
Now stand we on the thin and dizzy ledge l
Self-poised and pendent o'er the black abyss,
And lean, and listen by the torrent's edge,
And watch its fall, and hear it roar and hiss,
Like serpent foul m whereof old sages sing,
Or Hell's divan transformed to hail their venturous king.
Sheds the dire umbrage of its winding shroud;
Yet ere to heaven it wreathes its hoary cloud, i
Far off conspicuous, In her wildest mood
Sweet Iris k wantons there, and sketches gay
Many a bright segment of her tinted bow,
That float their moment till the breezes blow
The draft and shadowy tablet both away.
Now stand we on the thin and dizzy ledge l
Self-poised and pendent o'er the black abyss,
And lean, and listen by the torrent's edge,
And watch its fall, and hear it roar and hiss,
Like serpent foul m whereof old sages sing,
Or Hell's divan transformed to hail their venturous king.
V.
Descend we next to where the beetling clifts
Hang their high cornice o'er the margent steep,
Whose uncouth slope their crumbling fragments heap,
Sole track to yon dark portal, n that uplifts
In gothic guise its pointed crown, and leads
To the dread cloister, in whose vaulted groin
The shelving beds and gushing billows join,
And rock and river blend their arched heads.
There crawl the slimy reptiles of the deep,
Glazing th' obnoxious path, and dimly seen
By the dull lantern of that drizzling skreen;
Through which day's beams with faint refraction peep,
A baleful radiance pale, that gives the night
Perplexing gleams obscure, the shades of tortured light.
Hang their high cornice o'er the margent steep,
Whose uncouth slope their crumbling fragments heap,
Sole track to yon dark portal, n that uplifts
In gothic guise its pointed crown, and leads
To the dread cloister, in whose vaulted groin
The shelving beds and gushing billows join,
And rock and river blend their arched heads.
There crawl the slimy reptiles of the deep,
Glazing th' obnoxious path, and dimly seen
By the dull lantern of that drizzling skreen;
Through which day's beams with faint refraction peep,
A baleful radiance pale, that gives the night
Perplexing gleams obscure, the shades of tortured light.
VI.
Press not too far thy hardy search, nor trust
The doubtful chambers of that untried maze:
Know'st thou what base its leaning wall upstays?
What floods lie hid behind? what treacherous crust
Roofs the blind chasm, that cracks beneath thy tread?
What blights may blast thee, what sub-aqueous sound
May mock thy echoing steps, thy sense astound?
Or tempt thee where some rash adventurer dead
Lies wasting unentomb'd? mark, what a blast
Bursts from the chilling entrance! storm and shower
Breathe stern forbiddance from the jealous bower:
As if the demon of that cataract vast.
Sole anarch there, abhorr'd that tongue should tell
That mortal sight should pierce the secrets of his cell.
The doubtful chambers of that untried maze:
Know'st thou what base its leaning wall upstays?
What floods lie hid behind? what treacherous crust
Roofs the blind chasm, that cracks beneath thy tread?
What blights may blast thee, what sub-aqueous sound
May mock thy echoing steps, thy sense astound?
Or tempt thee where some rash adventurer dead
Lies wasting unentomb'd? mark, what a blast
Bursts from the chilling entrance! storm and shower
Breathe stern forbiddance from the jealous bower:
As if the demon of that cataract vast.
Sole anarch there, abhorr'd that tongue should tell
That mortal sight should pierce the secrets of his cell.
VII.
But now the Charon of the nether stream o
Waves his light oar, and wafts us o'er the tide.
With staggering step we scale the rugged side,
Fast by yon lofty ridge; o'er whose broad beam
With stealthy lapse at first the glassy plane p
In one bright sheet descends, then streaming all
With tresses green, that whiten as they fall,
Dash'd to ten thousand dews and dusts of rain,
Breaks on the crags beneath, its rugged floor,
The ruins of its rage; through whose hoarse caves
And countless crannies forced the foaming waves,
'Scaped their Tarpeian pitch,q with fresh uproar
Rush headlong down, and deeper as they swell
The mixt majestic choir, that shakes that wondrous dell.
Waves his light oar, and wafts us o'er the tide.
With staggering step we scale the rugged side,
Fast by yon lofty ridge; o'er whose broad beam
With stealthy lapse at first the glassy plane p
In one bright sheet descends, then streaming all
With tresses green, that whiten as they fall,
Dash'd to ten thousand dews and dusts of rain,
Breaks on the crags beneath, its rugged floor,
The ruins of its rage; through whose hoarse caves
And countless crannies forced the foaming waves,
'Scaped their Tarpeian pitch,q with fresh uproar
Rush headlong down, and deeper as they swell
The mixt majestic choir, that shakes that wondrous dell.
VIII.
Between the branches of the horned flood
With shade of loftiest growth and sunny smile,
Commingling graced a cool sequester'd isle, r
Crowns the high steep, and from its echoing wood
Proclaims the tumults of the restless vale
Far round, and calm as Dian's argent brow
Brush'd by the clouds, o'erlooks the storm below.
There many a stranger woos the breathing gale,
Worn with his toilsome ramble: there, they say,
Stern Winter oft his shining armoury s rears,
Framed in his icy forge; with crystal spears
And diamond lances hangs each bending spray,
Each trunk with mail, or helm, or buckler bright,
By man's slow toils unmatched, the fabric of a night.
With shade of loftiest growth and sunny smile,
Commingling graced a cool sequester'd isle, r
Crowns the high steep, and from its echoing wood
Proclaims the tumults of the restless vale
Far round, and calm as Dian's argent brow
Brush'd by the clouds, o'erlooks the storm below.
There many a stranger woos the breathing gale,
Worn with his toilsome ramble: there, they say,
Stern Winter oft his shining armoury s rears,
Framed in his icy forge; with crystal spears
And diamond lances hangs each bending spray,
Each trunk with mail, or helm, or buckler bright,
By man's slow toils unmatched, the fabric of a night.
IX.
Back o'er the bridge,t which daring art has thrown
Wide o'er the brawling pass (whose yesty streams
Flash through each crevice of the dancing beams)
We haste: the sleepless torrent hurrying on
Tow'rds its high leap, and whirling on its way
Th' uprooted pine and oak. The scaly herds
Against it tire their powerless helms: the birds
Of strongest flight, down stooping for their prey
On that disastrous current, rise no more.
Caught by the liquid hurricane they strain
Their ineffectual wings, and flap in vain;
With screams unnatural tow'rds th' increasing roar.
Forced on at length in silence down they go,
And glut th' insatiate gorge, that yawns and yells below.
Wide o'er the brawling pass (whose yesty streams
Flash through each crevice of the dancing beams)
We haste: the sleepless torrent hurrying on
Tow'rds its high leap, and whirling on its way
Th' uprooted pine and oak. The scaly herds
Against it tire their powerless helms: the birds
Of strongest flight, down stooping for their prey
On that disastrous current, rise no more.
Caught by the liquid hurricane they strain
Their ineffectual wings, and flap in vain;
With screams unnatural tow'rds th' increasing roar.
Forced on at length in silence down they go,
And glut th' insatiate gorge, that yawns and yells below.
X.
There lifeless oft the wanderers of the wave
In glittering shoals are seen; there sylvan stores,
Swoln beasts, and fractured beams, which to their shores
Wreck'd from those fatal heights the waters lave,
Or waft promiscuous down, where now between
Their towering banks,u far from the wrath behind,
Hurrying as if dismay'd and dark they wind
Their deep contracted deluge.—Pregnant scene!
Wherein fall'n power its own sad act may trace;
Power, that by bounteous heaven from obscure source
Advanced, with boundless rule and headlong course
Long flows; by ills at times, the rocks of grace,
Check'd, not chastised, still pours its fortunes on,
Wherewith the world resounds, and topples from its throne.
In glittering shoals are seen; there sylvan stores,
Swoln beasts, and fractured beams, which to their shores
Wreck'd from those fatal heights the waters lave,
Or waft promiscuous down, where now between
Their towering banks,u far from the wrath behind,
Hurrying as if dismay'd and dark they wind
Their deep contracted deluge.—Pregnant scene!
Wherein fall'n power its own sad act may trace;
Power, that by bounteous heaven from obscure source
Advanced, with boundless rule and headlong course
Long flows; by ills at times, the rocks of grace,
Check'd, not chastised, still pours its fortunes on,
Wherewith the world resounds, and topples from its throne.
XI.
A turbid solitude succeeds, uncheer'd
By Fame's retiring trump, that loud no more,
But makes despair more joyless; as the roar
Of yon high-falling flood remotely heard,
Saddens the troubled stream, that groans below.
There, save that lonely skiff, no swelling sail
Leans her coy bosom from the wanton gale;
Lest with its eddying ebb her helpless prow
The refluent tide should seize, and drift above
To th' howling base of that pernicious steep,
Plunged in its whelming shower, who knows how deep?
Or whirl'd how long upon its watery wheel!
In the dark dungeon of that hideous cove;
Whence scarce the buoyant Muse retrieves her vent'rous keel.
By Fame's retiring trump, that loud no more,
But makes despair more joyless; as the roar
Of yon high-falling flood remotely heard,
Saddens the troubled stream, that groans below.
There, save that lonely skiff, no swelling sail
Leans her coy bosom from the wanton gale;
Lest with its eddying ebb her helpless prow
The refluent tide should seize, and drift above
To th' howling base of that pernicious steep,
Plunged in its whelming shower, who knows how deep?
Or whirl'd how long upon its watery wheel!
In the dark dungeon of that hideous cove;
Whence scarce the buoyant Muse retrieves her vent'rous keel.
XII.
Niagara, such art thou: to equal thee,
What are the brooks of Wales, or statelier Clyde,v
Or Anio, or Velino,w or the tide
That shoots the slopes of Nile?x thy breadth a sea,
Thy shock an earthquake, and thy awful voice
The sound of many waters. Grand and bold
Columbia thus, the child of Nature's choice,
Scales all her wonders to the Rhodian mould.y
Her lakes are oceans, every stream a bay,
Wide through her frame its branching artery throws:
Her mountains kiss the moon: her sapient sway
A beauteous beltz hath wrought, whose ties enclose
Tribes without end, realm after realm embraced
In Freedom's opening arms, the savage and the waste.
What are the brooks of Wales, or statelier Clyde,v
Or Anio, or Velino,w or the tide
That shoots the slopes of Nile?x thy breadth a sea,
Thy shock an earthquake, and thy awful voice
The sound of many waters. Grand and bold
Columbia thus, the child of Nature's choice,
Scales all her wonders to the Rhodian mould.y
Her lakes are oceans, every stream a bay,
Wide through her frame its branching artery throws:
Her mountains kiss the moon: her sapient sway
A beauteous beltz hath wrought, whose ties enclose
Tribes without end, realm after realm embraced
In Freedom's opening arms, the savage and the waste.