"With sprightly grace the crystal waters flow,
"And loud reverberate in the gulf below;
"Through the deep gorge with rushing force to rage,
"And serve the mill-wheels for a future age.
"In days to come a million souls shall reap
"The blessings our tumultuous waters keep,
"And industry, with all her copious store,
"Shall feed the mendicant and clothe the poor.
"Its work complete, the useful stream shall glide
"To where the river meets the salty tide;
"And there the laboring flood at last shall rest,
"Safe sleeping on Old Oceans's ample breast!
"And loud reverberate in the gulf below;
"Through the deep gorge with rushing force to rage,
"And serve the mill-wheels for a future age.
"In days to come a million souls shall reap
"The blessings our tumultuous waters keep,
"And industry, with all her copious store,
"Shall feed the mendicant and clothe the poor.
"Its work complete, the useful stream shall glide
"To where the river meets the salty tide;
"And there the laboring flood at last shall rest,
"Safe sleeping on Old Oceans's ample breast!
1917
To Towne's Volcanic Mount
Hail, barren mount of old azoic time;
Lone towering offspring of a sulphurous clime;
Did hoary Pluto bid thy crest arise
Ere sun, or moon, or stars bedecked the skies?
Was earth, new-formed by Vulcan's seething might,
A flooded waste but for thy stony height;
Without a sound save ocean's ceaseless roar,
A darkened, deathlike silence brooding o'er?
Was it ere man or beast the landscape knew,
Or fragrant blossom drank the evening dew?
Did Hudson lave as now its rocky side
When first thou cam'st in smoking, fiery pride?
Pray tell at last the mysteries of thy birth,
When heavenly fiat shaped the teeming earth;
That I to coming man thy tale may show,
And all our race the ancient secret know!
Lone towering offspring of a sulphurous clime;
Did hoary Pluto bid thy crest arise
Ere sun, or moon, or stars bedecked the skies?
Was earth, new-formed by Vulcan's seething might,
A flooded waste but for thy stony height;
Without a sound save ocean's ceaseless roar,
A darkened, deathlike silence brooding o'er?
Was it ere man or beast the landscape knew,
Or fragrant blossom drank the evening dew?
Did Hudson lave as now its rocky side
When first thou cam'st in smoking, fiery pride?
Pray tell at last the mysteries of thy birth,
When heavenly fiat shaped the teeming earth;
That I to coming man thy tale may show,
And all our race the ancient secret know!
March 23, 1918
To Mount McGregor
(Near Greenwich, New York)
Hail, lonely peak, whose gray, unchanging crest
Bears the stern scars where glacial legions pressed;
Whose lofty brow defied the hosts that came
Down from the realms of cold auroral flame.
Weird was the night, when earth's ebullient deep
Cast up thy form, an outer watch to keep;
When newborn skies uncanny radiance shed,
Whilst frozen floods diffused a crystal dread.
Hast still in memory aught of that far day,
Ere the fair Hudson flowed its peaceful way;
Ere brother mountains touched the vaulted sky,
Or flowers or forests blessed the searching eye?
Vast boulders lying round thy rugged base
Bespeak an age when mortals had no place;
Tell of the times when mindless force could roll,
Unseen, unchallenged, from the arctic pole.
Then, too, we pause, and view with reverent mien
The sad memorials of a later scene;
When here with flashing blade a hero fought,
And to his cause a gory victory brought.
Beside the stream he saw the legions fall,
And heard the crackling shot of whining ball;
Beheld the carnage as it darkly spread
Bears the stern scars where glacial legions pressed;
Whose lofty brow defied the hosts that came
Down from the realms of cold auroral flame.
Weird was the night, when earth's ebullient deep
Cast up thy form, an outer watch to keep;
When newborn skies uncanny radiance shed,
Whilst frozen floods diffused a crystal dread.
Hast still in memory aught of that far day,
Ere the fair Hudson flowed its peaceful way;
Ere brother mountains touched the vaulted sky,
Or flowers or forests blessed the searching eye?
Vast boulders lying round thy rugged base
Bespeak an age when mortals had no place;
Tell of the times when mindless force could roll,
Unseen, unchallenged, from the arctic pole.
Then, too, we pause, and view with reverent mien
The sad memorials of a later scene;
When here with flashing blade a hero fought,
And to his cause a gory victory brought.
Beside the stream he saw the legions fall,
And heard the crackling shot of whining ball;
Beheld the carnage as it darkly spread
36
