V 
 
NIAGARA 
 
 A POEM. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. C. H. A. BULKLEY 
 
 NEW-YORK : 
 
 LEAVITT, TROW & CO., 191 BROADWAY. 
 
 MDCCCXLVm. 
 
ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by 
 
 LEAVITT, TROW & COMPANY, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York. 
 
 . v :;': ,. 
 
IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED, 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR, 
 
 TO 
 
 MRS. HENRY W. TAYLOR, 
 
 OB- MARSHALL, MICH., 
 
 THE DELIGHTS OF WHOSE HOME, 
 
 AND WHOSE KIND INCENTIVES, 
 
 OCCASIONED ITS PRODUCTION. 
 
 M191799 
 

 I 
 
 JB 
 
 TO THE 
 
 AMERICAN PUBLIC 
 
 THE following attempt to illustrate one of Nature's greatest 
 wonders, and justly the pride of our land, is here laid before you. 
 Its composition, during a season of partial relaxation from the 
 fatiguing duties of a profession, than which none other is more 
 toilsome, was to the author a source of elevated pleasure and 
 mental benefit. Without claiming to have answered in full the 
 demand long made for a Poem of more than ordinary length, truly 
 American in its character, he presents this effort with the humble 
 desire that it may fill that void, at least in a limited degree. Al- 
 though it should not accomplish the design for which it is offered, 
 it may perhaps incite some more gifted and adventurous spirit to 
 essay the task with better success. This Poem had never been 
 published but for the encouragements of those in whose favorable 
 judgment, expressed without the bias of personal friendship, con- 
 fidence has been reposed, as being that of men already eminent 
 in the walks of literature. Much has been written hitherto upon 
 Niagara in fugitive verse, but no attempt like this has been made, 
 to present its united wonders as the theme of a single poem. It 
 
VI TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. 
 
 seems a bold adventure, and one too hazardous, because of the 
 greatness of the subject, and the obscurity of the bard ; but his 
 countrymen are called upon to judge of it with impartiality, and 
 pronounce its life or its death. The author would not shrink from 
 criticism, but rather invites and is ready to submit to, not that 
 which is venom-fanged'and harsh, but just, manly, truthful, and 
 generous. His object has been not so much to describe at length 
 the scenery of Niagara, in order to excite emotions in the reader 
 similar to those of the beholder, for this would be a vain endeavor, 
 as to give a transcript of what passes through the mind of one who 
 is supposed to witness so grand an achievement of Nature. The 
 difficulty with those who visit this wondrous Cataract, is to give 
 utterance to those feelings and thoughts that crowd within, and 
 often, because thus pent up, produce what may be termed the pain 
 of delight. If a responsive affection and kindred sympathy can 
 be evoked towards him, from those in whose hearts, by this pro- 
 duction, he would cherish blest sentiments and emotions, that now 
 linger there, or perhaps have ceased to echo, nay, that never before 
 have had a place within, it is all the meed he asks. That the 
 God of Nature and of Heaven may cause this work to honor His 
 name, and that the reader may turn from its perusal with a heart 
 more full of love to Him, to Nature, and to Humanity, is the 
 hope of 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 MOUNT MORRIS, N. Y. 
 April, 1848. 
 
ANALYSIS. 
 
 Introductory apostrophe themes proposed. Apostrophe to the Fall as a vast 
 form of life. The presence-chamber of God. A knight-errant. Restless spirits. 
 The streams their lament its uselessness. The Torrent like Time. A mourner 
 over men and nations. The Indian his chase his death-song his fall. Apostrophe 
 to the Cataract as a Destroyer an Historian a warning Prophet an oracle of Truth 
 a Chronicler undying a tireless Laborer and unswayed by man. The islands 
 refuge-spots so are some hearts. Winter the Fall ice-imprisoned. Spring with a 
 song of Liberty. Apostrophe to Niagara River passage down its banks. The Cliffs 
 Death of Hungerford. The Cave of the Winds. The Pinnacle-Rock. The 
 Whirlpool. Apostrophe to the Fall respecting its origin and early life. The Fall's 
 Invocation to the Creative Spirit for the Seasons. Evening and Night. The Hermit 
 of the Fall his birth-place and character his strain his melancholy and aspirations 
 his strife, disappointment, doom, fearful deed, remorse, and death. The Fall a wit- 
 ness of Redemption. Sunrise typical of Genius. Hymn of Praise. Noon. The 
 Flood's Invocation. Poet. Musician. The Table-Rock. Beneath the Sheet. The 
 Cataract's hymn to the Creator. Proof of Deity. The Doom of Time, with the 
 Flood's death-dirge and fall. The Farewell to the Cataract. 
 
NIAGARA. 1 
 
 " Deep calleth unto deep, 
 At the noise of thy water-spouts." 
 
 Ps. xlii. 7. 
 
 ANCIENT OF FLOODS ! twin-born with Time ! most dread ! 
 
 In spirit overwhelmed and tremulous, 
 
 In hushed amaze and wildering reveries lost, 
 
 Here do I bow before thine august front ! 
 
 Thou universal type of human thought ! 
 All things of earth and heaven, of man and God, 
 By thee are symbolized and throng my heart, 
 In images begotten by thy power ! 
 Like some huge form of life, with mind endowed, 
 Thou liftest up thy voice in high discourse ! 
 Thou art the strength of myriad tides compressed, 
 The spot beneath God's throne whereon He plants 
 The right foot of His power, and speaks to earth, 
 The messenger and guardian of his realm, 
 The voice of streams, of Time, of Truth, of Love, 
 Bewailing joys of men and nations lost ! 
 2 
 
10 NIAGARA. 
 
 Enthroned 'mid refuge-isles, unswayed by man, 
 
 Alone by ice-chains bound, yet quickly loosed, 
 
 Chanting a free hymn with enfranchised streams, 
 
 Frowning in cliffs and caves impregned with death, 
 
 And rushing madly to the whirlpool's depths, 
 
 Thou hast of old still lived and summoned life ! 
 
 The morn and eve, the noonday and the night, 
 
 Make thee their shrine, where even man has paid 
 
 His homage and revealed his secret heart. 
 
 A witness of redeeming love art thou, 
 
 A voice at sunrise, to the gifted soul 
 
 Of high encouragement, to God of praise 
 
 And supplication, and to earth of hope. 
 
 What poets image or musicians hymn, 
 
 In thine own page and notes are read and heard. 
 
 Upon thy rock-built steep and 'neath thy tide, 
 
 As in a temple find we proof of God ; 
 
 And when man's farewell sounds, thy song shall be 
 
 Time's requiem and thine own farewell to life ! 
 
 Thus, matchless Fall ! with life so multiform, 
 
 Doth my initial strain the vestibule 
 
 Of thought upbuilded open to the view 
 
 Of hearts now ushered in thy courts, its scenes, 
 
 Foreshadowing themes th' augmented verse unfolds. 
 
 O Shape majestic ! whose untrammelled arms 
 Are ever battling foes of rocky strength, 
 With what untiring and victorious tread, 
 
NI AGA RA . 11 
 
 Dost thou march on from rugged height to depth ! 
 Thou great Behemoth ! sweltering in the sun, 
 Leaping perpetual down the dread abyss, 
 And wrestling frantic with the rocks below ! 
 I see thee like a huge leviathan, 
 Swelling, as if with conscious power, thy crest, 
 Rolling in boiling billows, that to thee 
 Are but the infant playthings of an hour, 
 And spouting all along the maddened deep, 
 Ten thousand rivulets of spray and foam ! 
 How sullen comes thy roar to earth's pained ear ! 
 How to her view thy misty breathings rise ! 
 
 Thou Crater of the Lakes, that inland spread, 
 Seem like a vast volcano torn apart, 
 By thee disgorging all its fireless streams ; 
 How oft my heart has beat its prison ribs, 
 With strong pulsations to behold thy front ! 
 Ah ! do I dream of thee ? No ! there thou art, 
 In all thy native grandeur towering still, 
 With all thy primal vigor pouring out 
 Thy chainless tide, that ever loudly boasts 
 And tosses up, in pride, its head of spray, 
 Scorning decay with its exhaustless fonts, 
 Like some rich feudal lord among his serfs, 
 Holdingt neir spirits 'neath an iron rule, 
 Yet giving them his treasured largesses, 
 With liberal hand and aspect dominant. 
 
12 NIAGARA. 
 
 Spirit of the Flood ! embodied here, 
 Concentering all thy powers in one vast stride, 
 And brooding o'er the surface of this deep, 
 As on the waters moved th' Invisible 
 
 Of old, when first Creation breathed in Time ; 
 With soul all worshipful, I honor thee ! 
 Above thy brow or on the rock below, 
 Or in thy temple underneath thy roof, 
 Hid by thy veil I stand in rapture hushed ; 
 
 1 catch thy spray, I see thy rainbow smile, 
 The eddying foam, the imprint of thy feet 
 
 Vision awful ! how my spirit bows 
 
 Here at thy shrine, as at th' Almighty's bar ! 
 
 How like the Prophet awed, who erst beheld 
 
 Jehovah's lofty throne and endless train 
 
 Filling the Temple infinite, and saw 
 
 The seraphims with covered face and feet, 
 
 And heard them cry " Thrice holy thou, O Lord !" 
 
 1 prostrate now my form, and in thy sight 
 Exclaim " Unclean, unclean, O man undone !" 2 
 How reverently do I uncover here, 
 
 My reeling brow, and put my sandals off, 
 
 As though before the oracle of God, 
 
 And in His presence-chamber now I stand ! 
 
 Dazzled I bend, for in the sunlight's glare, 
 Glancing from myriad mirrors on thy wall, 
 I view th' Eternal o'er His mercy-seat, 
 In the Shechinah of His glory robed ! 
 
NIAGARA. 13 
 
 With thoughts unutterable, yet too full 
 
 To live within my narrow-circled heart, 
 
 I view thy changeless arch reflecting Heaven's ; 
 
 I hear thine anthem pealing out to earth, 
 
 The rich concordance of unnumbered streams ! 
 
 With its pent breath full swells my aching breast ! 
 
 There ! forth it rushes now lest these weak chords 
 
 Should break in agony and close the scene ! 
 
 Hear ! O thou mighty Anakim of tides 
 
 Among the liquid nations ! hear my shout, 
 
 E'en though its sound a dying tone may seem 
 
 Amid the surge-like echoes of thy voice 
 
 Booming for ever o'er the deep of Time ! 
 
 All hail ! immortal Cataract, all hail ! 
 
 Emblem of life to man, thou dost uprise 
 
 Before his view to bless with thoughts of love ! 
 
 O Teacher of his soul ! still thou dost speak 
 
 With heavenward music to his ear of hope ! 
 
 Knight-errant of the rivers ! going forth 
 
 On foaming steed, whose nostrils breathe out mist, 
 
 To single combat with an arm unmatched, 
 
 With prowess high and panoply of might ! 
 
 How vigorously, yet readily dost thou 
 
 Wield thy strong weapons though of massive weight ! 
 
 Swift rush thy spear-like streams, that glance in light, 
 
 With quick precision to the channel's heart ; 
 
 With what a demon-grasp dost thou take hold 
 
 On all things near in thy o'ermastering strength ! 
 
14 NIAGARA . 
 
 Below, beneath the trampings of thy feet, 
 
 What caverns vast, what giant rocks oppose, 
 
 And me,et thy strokes with their unflinching breasts ! 
 
 How strongly trenched in earth's firm bulwark-heart, 
 
 They stand unmoved ! What deep foundations hold 
 
 Their structures up beneath thy ceaseless blows ! 
 
 Rising, still rising with the flight of day, 
 
 Thy misty stature reaches to the sky, 
 
 The Sun's co-partner, rival of the cloud ! 
 
 Falling, still falling with decline of light, 
 
 Thy waters hurl them o'er the frowning cliff! 
 
 Are restless spirits brooding underneath 
 
 Thy rough hewn footstool, fierce with curbless hate, 
 
 Gathered round hell-like fires in hope t' avenge 
 
 Each crushing stroke of thy tyrannic heel ? 
 
 See ! from those heated rocks the frightened waves 
 
 That fell so cool turn round in boiling pain, 
 
 And vapors, as if hissing, hot arise ! 
 
 In thy hoarse strains is heard the desolate wail 
 
 Of streams unnumbered wandering far away 
 
 From mountain homes where, 'neath the shady rocks, 
 
 Their parent springs gave them a peaceful birth ; 
 
 In one united voice their grief resounds, 
 
 Mourning the loss of pensive woods and vales, 
 
 No more to greet their musical return ; 
 
 Downward, clasped tremblingly in wild embrace, 
 
 They headlong plunge and writhe in agony ; 
 
 Upward their deep groan goes to hill and glen, 
 
NIAGARA . 15 
 
 Till, mingled in despair, seaward they roll, 
 To swell the caves of Ocean never full, 
 Repeating loudly all along his shore, * 
 
 In the sad moanings of the heaving surf, 
 Like this, the anguish of their ebbing life : 
 
 " O wood-crowned hills ! in whose cool grottos born, 
 
 We leaped to light with chimes of early spring, 
 
 And down your deep ravines and shady sides, 
 
 Flowed with the music of the youthful heart ; 
 
 We long, with outstretched arms and mournful plaint 
 
 To mount your heights again, and play in love 
 
 With the green children of the forest home ; 
 
 To start in silence from the fissured rock, 
 
 And roll in peace along your verdant cheeks ; 
 
 Oh ! when, ye listening hills, shall we return, 
 
 And bubble up again within your hearts ? 
 
 Ye sun-clad vales ! that slept in light unchecked, 
 
 With visions beauteous as an infant's dream, 
 
 How joyously along thy banks we played, 
 
 Where yellow moccasins and the wild rose grew, 
 
 Like maidens dancing in the spring-time gay, 
 
 With tinkling feet upon the dewy lawn. 
 
 O blessed vales ! shall we behold again, 
 
 Your peaceful images and quiet slopes, 
 
 The guardian tenants of your pathless home, 
 
 Or breathe the stillness of your fragrant air ? 
 
 Ah ! how we yearn to bend our footsteps back, 
 
 And tread your devious pathways once again ! 
 
16 NIAGARA. 
 
 How fiercely, yet alas ! how vainly now, 
 
 We beat against the stern imprisoning shore, 
 
 That stretches out its everlasting bar, 
 
 Foe to return*, defying every siege ! 
 
 Ye wandering spirits of the land-wind, hear I 
 
 We mourn for you whom oft we joyful bore 
 
 On loving bosoms where your footsteps played ; 
 
 Say, never more shall we in your embrace 
 
 Be held, nor in your unseen presence sport ? 
 
 Come, ye blest breathings of the earth, come now, 
 
 From glen and grove, and waft us back again 
 
 To those sweet play-grounds of our infant days. 
 
 Ye mountains ! looking down from star-crowned heights, 
 
 Whose guardian summits watched us in our mirth, 
 
 As parents eye the life-springs of their hearts; 
 
 Was it not joy for us to dwell beneath 
 
 Your shadows, resting from the noon-day heat ? 
 
 Aye ! it was bliss to cool our sun-struck tide 
 
 Beneath th' umbrageous shelter of your woods ! 
 
 To you, to leaf-clad hills, to shining vales, 
 
 Must we now speak that bitter word " Farewell ?" 
 
 Must we the strife of fierce leviathans 
 
 Endure, and ever bear th 3 oppressive weight 
 
 Of laden barks, that break the yielding wave ? 
 
 Must we be driven and scourged like heartless slaves^ 
 
 By the keen lashes of the tempest's hand, 
 
 Or tremble at the terror of his frown ? 
 
 We woul# that once again the heated lip 
 
 Of the lone hunter or the hard-pressed stag, 
 
NIAGARA. 17 
 
 Of school-boy loosed from Wisdom's serious look, 
 Or herds that stood midway within the tide, 
 Might draw refreshing life from our cool fonts ; 
 We would that some sweet maiden might once more, 
 With her reflected image glassed below, 
 Smooth her dishevelled locks her love to meet ; 
 Oh ! that again we might in rapture hear 
 Those heart-warm words that gushed with new-born hopes, 
 And loving promises from blended hearts, 
 Repeated in the babblings of our wave ; 
 That we might see those fond embraces, full 
 Of Life's deep rapture unalloyed and bright ! 
 We miss the cottage by the emerald bank, 
 Where merry voices bubbled with our springs, 
 And tones of prayer were heard at vesper-time. 
 We see not now the Poet with his book, 
 Wrapt in the ecstasy of thought, alone 
 And on the grassy slope reclined at length, 
 Anon beholding Nature and his page, 
 To form anew from her loved images 
 And sentiments of other hearts, combined 
 With those begotten in his busy soul, 
 A bright creation for the wondering world. 
 Ah ! not the least, we miss the errant lad 
 With hook and line of rude construction formed, 
 And writhing worm to lure the simple trout ; 
 And the light skip of footless keels that sped 
 With flying sail or paddle o'er our tide, * 
 
 By mirthful songs or measured shouts well-timed. 
 
 2* 
 
18 NIAGARA. 
 
 Whither, ah ! whither shall we look to find 
 A pathway opened for our backward step ? 
 O Sun ! thou only helper in our wo, 
 Come with thy beams and gently draw us up ; 
 Let clouds that follow in thy regal train, 
 Bend at thy word from their ethereal flight, 
 
 And bear us in their bosoms to our homes. 
 
 , t 
 
 Come, ere in anguish, as we beat the beach, 
 To drive the sand or break the heartless rock, 
 And dig our pathway back again to joy, 
 We yield to Ocean's power our ebbing hearts, 
 And all despairing die along the shore !" 
 
 Alas ! how vain their cry ! 'tis like the prayer 
 
 Of disappointed Age that asks for youth ! 
 
 Of souls that rushed down Life's declivities, 
 
 In all the madness of their heated hopes ; 
 
 Man's heart-wrung wishes fall back on our ears, 
 
 Like the deep meanings of returnless streams ! 
 
 Yet one hope lives, a Sun above us shines, 
 
 Whose rays, endowed with Love's affinities, 
 
 May still return our spirits, when exhaled 
 
 From earth, to Heaven's immortal youth at last. 
 
 'Twere useless e'er those wishes to express, 
 
 To gratify them worse than useless 'tis ; 
 
 Those streams, if once returned to primal homes, 
 
 Would hurry blindly in their wayward course, 
 
 E'en as before from their parental springs, 
 
 To pass o'er rocks and through deep whirlpool ways, 
 
N I AGAR A . 19 
 
 And end in Ocean's billows evermore ; 
 
 So we, if youthful years were e'er restored, 
 
 Or homes of love might tenant once again, 
 
 Should heedless pass our most unvalued hours, 
 
 Should leave our blessings ever unimproved, 
 
 And prodigally wander from the hearths 
 
 Where smiling Peace sits aye a welcome guest, 
 
 And Plenty fills us with her bounteous store, 
 
 To spend our patrimonial share of joy, 
 
 Of time and thought upon a heartless world, 
 
 Till lost in dark Eternity's wide sea ! 
 
 O Torrent ! art thou not akin to Time, 
 Or rather his impersonated form, 
 That flees our grasp clothed in the brightest robes 
 Of love and hope that once our garments were ? 
 How deaf to every voice of streams art thou, 
 Made thus by thine own ever-sounding tongue ! 
 How heedless Time to every plaint of man ! 
 How full of mockery to his heart of grief! 
 How swift his current bears us down, to roll 
 In the deep surgings of Life's ocean-wave, 
 Vainly to struggle back again to youth ! 
 Over his rocks and down his deep abyss, 
 He flings the dearest treasures of our hearts ; 
 Alas ! how bruised and shattered on they sweep, 
 In his swift whirlpool unrecovered all ! 
 ; Aye ! when the currents of his years rush by, 
 And lay their fingers on our hopeful barks, 
 
20 NIAGARA. 
 
 What well-nerved soul, what vigorous arm of thought, 
 What oar of feeling or what sail of joy, 
 Can help us stem his tide or shun his depths? 
 Oh ! they must shoot unaided o'er his verge, 
 And sink for aye in his oblivious flood ! 
 
 Yes, tearful Mourner I thou dost often sound 
 
 The funeral wail of numbers who have rushed 
 
 In dark fatality adown thy stream ! 
 
 See yonder chieftain, long the forest's pride, 
 
 Whose bow is death, whose arrow poison-fraught, 
 
 Whose arm is terror and whose eye is light ; 
 
 In the close wigwam, framed of birchen bark, 
 
 His other self sings to their hearts' young hope 
 
 Of his return, while smiles like starlight soft 
 
 On quiet streams, play round its sleeping lips, 
 
 As if the infant dreamed of his embrace ; 
 
 While sounds of steps, like pattering rain on leaves, 
 
 Fall on the mother's ear, of those upborne 
 
 Upon her breast from infancy, now blest 
 
 With youth's green hopes and fresh life's sunny skies ; 
 
 Voices, like plashings from some home-bound bark, 
 
 Whose swift keel cleaves the wave, at evening heard, 
 
 Echo within her heart, a heart that leaps 
 
 With kindling hope at every heavy step, 
 
 That she may rush into her chieftain's arms. 
 
 But ah ! lone mother, never more wilt thou 
 
 Feel the warm pressure of that bosom's love, 
 
 Nor hold thy dear ones up in whom to show 
 
NIAGARA. 21 
 
 His image pictured and thy heart within. 
 
 Alas ! fond wife, not e'er again thou'lt tell 
 
 Of all the hopes and fears in silent hours, 
 
 That thronged thy bosom for thine absent love. 
 
 Nor wilt thou pillow up his head o'ercome 
 
 With keen fatigue, nor gently fan his sleep, 
 
 Nor crush the maize, nor bring the spring's cool draught, 
 
 The power of hunger and of thirst to quell. 
 
 Where roams that chieftain now, O loving one ? 
 
 Through deep and tangled wild- woods, far away, 
 
 Close to the fall of light, he treads the leaves 
 
 That clothe his path where lies the wild deer's track. 
 
 Ha ! there his quick eye meets a noble stag ! 
 
 His arm is nerved, his hide-strung bow is raised, 
 
 His arrow pointed, now like light it flies ! 
 
 Deep in that side quivers the feathered shaft, 
 
 Reddened all o'er with jets of crimson life. 
 
 Away ! the antlered king the forest flees, 
 
 And in the cooling stream a refuge seeks ; 
 
 Quickly the hunter speeds, and on the bank 
 
 Finds soon a light canoe, that parts the tide 
 
 As the swift arrow cuts the yielding air ; 
 
 Lightly it dances like a gossamer 
 
 Along the stream, and nears the panting deer, 
 
 That sees his fate at hand, and turning, sheds 
 
 The dying tear, then breathes his life away ! 3 
 
 But ho ! what paleness, like the dawn's dull gray, 
 
 Veils now that face, what new light fires that eye, 
 
 What nerves that arm to ply thus swift his oar ? 
 

 22 NIAGARA. 
 
 Ah ! in the eager chase he heeded not 
 
 The eddying tide, that swept yon ledge of rocks ! 
 
 And now within its grasp his frail bark moves 
 
 On to thy verge, O Cataract of wo ! 
 
 Nobly he struggles, but alas, in vain, 
 
 To stem the fatal current and escape ! 
 
 Hark ! one wild shriek shoots through the frightened air, 
 
 Startling the nestled birds from sunset sleep, 
 
 Waking the hills to give back their response ! 
 
 All, all is o'er, for in that shriek is told 
 
 That life is hovering o'er th' abyss of death ! 
 
 He drops his oar, he folds his weary arms, 
 
 And in his bark erect, unmoved and calm, 
 
 Awaits his doom with bold heroic heart ! 
 
 He hears that voice terrific, like the roar 
 
 Of hungry wild beasts in their desert lair, 
 
 Prepared to plunge upon their victims nigh ! 
 
 He sees yon spot where angry billows fight 
 
 In rival power t' embrace the glassy tide. 
 
 Few moments now remain, and like the swan 
 
 That sings at death its ebbing life away, 
 
 He swells the hymn of Nature, now so sad, 
 
 With the calm music of his heart's death-song : 
 
 " Farewell ! ye loved ones, that to this strong heart 
 
 Were like its acorns to th' unblighted oak ; 
 
 Soon, soon all riven by the lightning play 
 
 Of these resistless tides, my frame shall fall, 
 
 And with their thunder voice my death-groans blend ! 
 
NIAGARA. 23 
 
 Oh ! in this land whereon the sunlight gleams, 
 
 No more your eyes shall join with mine their rays, 
 
 But in the land where spirits are all light, 
 
 Shall life renewed bring pleasures unalloyed, 
 
 At whose deep fountain all of us may drink. 
 
 Farewell ! thou heart that blent its hopes with mine, 
 
 Like day-beams glistening in the depth of tides, 
 
 The riving storm rends now this towering trunk, 
 
 And casts it splintered on the sharpened rock, 
 
 While thou, O loved one, with thine arms untwined, 
 
 Must fall to earth in unsupported grief. 
 
 Farewell ! in yonder clime where pain lives not, 
 
 Nor fatal cataracts leap down with death, 
 
 I wait for thee till thou shalt end Life's chase ! 
 
 Farewell my wigwam ! I no more shall see 
 
 Thy fire-light gleaming at the evening's close ! 
 
 Farewell my warrior band ! whose stalwart arms 
 
 Have won with me the conquest of our foes ; 
 
 By council-fires we never more shall meet, 
 
 And talk of battles to be fought and won ; 
 
 No more on fields of carnage shall we brave 
 
 Stern visages of men that love war's din. 
 
 Yet, brothers, shall we gather in the halls 
 
 Of that Great Spirit whom we all adore, 
 
 And join the councils of departed braves. 
 
 Farewell ye streams ! whose arrowy currents bore 
 
 My swift canoe on like a bird of light, 
 
 Safe to my home where hope embosomed smiled ; 
 
 Your tides here mingled bear me far away 
 
4 24 NIAGARA. 
 
 To the dim regions of the Future's life ! 
 
 Farewell ye hills ! ye mountains ! woods and vales ! 
 
 Where sire and son have found their hunting grounds, 
 
 Your swift-heeled stags no more may fear my bow, 
 
 But browse your verdure in disturbless peace ; 
 
 To yonder fields where spirit-forms, abide, 
 
 I hasten now, for ever there to dwell ! 
 
 My death-song ends farewell to all of earth !" 
 
 He nears the verge ! the rolling torrent lifts 
 His little bark as 'twere a thing of air,. 
 To which with death-like grasp he strongly clings ! 
 Poised on the edge of that high precipice, 
 He seems an instant to be hung, then falls ! 
 Falls from that dizzy height and is no more, 
 Closed in the embracings of the white foam's tomb, 
 Lost to the loves and hates of earth for aye ! 
 
 So died the stag and so the hunter died, 
 So fall the conquered and the conqueror ! 
 
 O dread Destroyer ! potent avalanche 
 
 Of waters ! who can rise from underneath 
 
 Thy whelming mass uncrushed ? Say, who can brave 
 
 The awful terror of thy conquering arm ? 
 
 As from an Alpine summit thou dost launch 
 
 Thy snow-white torrents on the abyss below ; 
 
 If found within thy swift unerring course, 
 
 'Twere vain to flee, to stay is death indeed ! 
 
NIAGARA. 25 
 
 How much like Life's usurper thou dost come, 
 
 With unresisted might and tearless eye, 
 
 To hurl the blest inheritor of earth 
 
 Down from the pedestal where erst enthroned, 
 
 He sat a sovereign in love's happy realm ; 
 
 Aye ! how imperative Death's voice, like thine, 
 
 Resounds to fill all hearts with fear and wo ! 
 
 How vainly to our loved ones do we cling, 
 
 Who, powerless, ne'er escape his grasp that tears 
 
 Their hearts from ours, which like the restless threads 
 
 Of some lone spider's web torn from its place, 
 
 That swingeth in the breeze, and drips with dew, 
 
 Seem parted shreds that drop with Love's own blood. 
 
 Ah ! we may hope to gain th' unbroken form 
 
 Of him who hurries down thy shivering steep, 
 
 As to recover from Death's crushing touch, 
 
 The loved who were of our own life a part, 
 
 When his resolve is fixed to make them his ! 
 
 Alas ! that earth has not the power to keep 
 
 All things as hers that from her bosom come ! 
 
 Oft with thy voice dost thou, Historian rare ! 
 Declare the fate of nations that were throned 
 In might and splendor like the stars of night, 
 O'er earth's vast acres holding their control, 
 But now 'whelmed 'neath the cataract of Time, 
 And mouldered into human nothingness, 
 Their rest the memory, and their tomb the Past ! 
 When shook by fierce convulsions low they fell, 
 
26 NIAGARA. 
 
 And sent their death-wail like an earthquake voice, 
 
 Over the posting waves that foamed in haste, 
 
 To bear the sad intelligence afar, 
 
 How sadly rolled thy hymn funereal on, 
 
 To meet the sighings of the sorrowing sea. 
 
 Say, has not oft the artisan of clouds, 
 
 Who in thy busy waters layeth deep 
 
 The beams of his bright chambers, and enrobes 
 
 Thy form in the gay garments of his light, 
 
 Has he not oft caught up the heartful tears 
 
 Of far-off multitudes that mourned the death 
 
 Of all their country's hopes, and with them swelled 
 
 Thy streams, filled with the sighs and groans that tell 
 
 A nation's change from splendor to decay ? 
 
 Methinks that often thou hast lifted up 
 
 Thy solemn voice and wept a people's loss, 
 
 And sounded an alarum-note for all 
 
 Whom coming Time should bring to tenant earth. 
 
 Prophet of Truth ! thus is thy warning voice 
 
 Heard o'er the ruins of departed years : 
 
 " Wo to the nations that in pride have towered 
 Above the majesty of Heaven, and scorned 
 Obedience to its just decrees, or throned 
 Amid their temples and within their hearts, 
 The earth-born deities of idol form ! 
 Changing, as fools, the glory of their God, 
 The Incorruptible, to images 
 Made like to man corruptible, to birds, 
 
NIAGARA. 27 
 
 To beasts four-footed, and to reptile things ; 
 
 Discerning not from earth's created forms, 
 
 His attributes invisible that tell 
 
 His power eternal and his Godhead bright ! 4 
 
 Wo to the lands that in the tide of sin 
 
 Have bathed their bosoms with its poison-drops, 
 
 Whose arms have stretched from shore to shore afar, 
 
 Reddening the waters that repose between, 
 
 With the fresh heart-streams of the earthly life. 
 
 Where are the throngs that trod the weary soil 
 
 Ere swept the deluge-torrents o'er their home ? 
 
 Where are the thousands whom the fire-bolts hurled 
 
 Down 'neath the soundings of the Dead Sea's wave ? 
 
 Where now is Persia's pride, her Orient thrones, 
 
 Assyria's glories, like resplendent suns, 
 
 Egyptia's wisdom, Rome's great battle-arm, 
 
 The halls of Greece, Philosophy's loved shades, 
 
 The walls of Carthage, or the hundred gates 
 
 Of ancient Thebes, the chivalry of Spain, 
 
 Italia's beauty, Palestina's joy ? 
 
 Where are they now ? The deluge-waves of wo 
 
 Have rolled their ruin o'er them all for aye ! 
 
 Their shivered columns lie the prey of Time, 
 
 Like lifeless skeletons, whose scattered bones 
 
 His ravenous tooth has gnawed and left to rot ! 
 
 Where are the cities gemming earth's wide brow, 
 
 That formed her diadem of clustering light, 
 
 And stood along her desert intervals, 
 
 Like inland islands full of wealth and power ? 
 
28 NIAGARA. 
 
 Some, doomed to silence in their lava-tombs, 
 
 Sleep all unconscious of the tread of Time, 
 
 Or helpless yield to antiquarian hands, 
 
 That ope their graves and rifle all their stores. 
 
 Others, like forms upon the sea-shore sands, 
 
 Shipwrecked and shattered crumble to decay ; 
 
 Their streets resound with desolation's cry, 
 
 The bittern's piercing shriek, the owl's hoarse croak, 
 
 Or swarm with drones that mock the silent shades 
 
 Of their paternal heroes, dead to all 
 
 That elevates and blesses man below ! 
 
 Wail ! for the desolated homes, of old 
 
 Resounding with the melody of the heart, 
 
 Now echo songless, or are harps for winds, 
 
 That make sad music with their minor chords ! 
 
 Wail for deserted shrines, where Genius knelt, 
 
 And in its worship won the awe of souls ! 
 
 Wail for the lost, and bid the living list, 
 
 ' Cursed the nation that forgets its God !' ' 
 
 O Oracle of Truth ! no Delphos gave 
 Such true responses as thy waters sound ! 
 From thee we learn that man's creations die, 
 While Nature still survives his hopeless wrecks, 
 To teach the world her Architect's great will ! 
 
 Thou reverend Chronicler ! on thy full page, 
 What memories of by-gone years we read, 
 That throng our hearts as rush thy waters down ! 
 
NIAGARA. 29 
 
 Yes ! now we hear thy watery lips declare 
 
 That when the voices of a nation's birth 
 
 Went up from earth to heaven in triumph glad, 
 
 With the heart-swelling song of Liberty, 
 
 Thy shout arose in deep-toned concert joined ! 
 
 Methinks thy clamorous waves with joyful swell, 
 
 A thousand fold increased, and beat aloud 
 
 A new reveille for the nations round ; 
 
 Till the old dynasties of tyrant Time, 
 
 Felt the earth quiver and her kingdoms reel ! 
 
 And then methinks in rapture thou didst stretch 
 
 Another bow of richer hue above 
 
 Thy glittering front, and wide unfurled for earth, 
 
 A new-named banner to the eye of man, 
 
 With Freedom's stars reflected from its folds, 
 
 Radiant as Heaven's high monuments of light ! 
 
 Didst thou not then announce to other worlds, 
 
 The blessed news winged by the feathery mist, 
 
 And with its arrowy fleetness mounting up, 
 
 That man had fled the castle of the king, 
 
 To roam unchecked in Freedom's fenceless fields ? 
 
 Ah ! when the deep voice of the heart o'erfull 
 
 Of love for life and liberty was heard ; 
 
 When boomed the thunder-gun along thy banks, 
 
 And brave souls driven fiercely out of earth, 
 
 By bursting bombs and rattling iron balls, 
 
 Left heje their shattered tenements to rot, 
 
 Didst thou not tremble lest the chain might be 
 
 Still heavier forged, and crush the hopeful heart ? 
 
30 NIAGARA. 
 
 They tell us, O devouring Cataract ! 
 
 That in approaching time the earth-bound lakes, 
 
 Which moisten now thine ever-thirsty lips, 
 
 Shall break their strong enthralments and o'erflow 
 
 The peopled fields with deluges of death ; 
 
 That thou with backward step or fallen crest, 
 
 Shalt riot o'er the home-clad vales in wrath, 
 
 And sweep disaster through the ranks of life ; 5 
 
 But never, O great Waterfall ! let man 
 
 Bewail the abdication of thy seat, 
 
 Or his own loss, before thy ravages ! 
 
 Never ! we will not lend our ear to words 
 
 That tell of thy decay or change amid 
 
 Time's victories and earth's vicissitudes ! 
 
 No, never ! such catastrophe shall ne'er 
 
 Dismay our hearts or desolate our homes ! 
 
 Hath not th' Almighty traced upon thy brow, 
 
 In rainbow-letters, with His artist-hand, 
 
 The hopeful promise that our trembling earth 
 
 No more shall swallow death in deluge-tides ? 
 
 Aye ! thou shalt pour with lavish hand thy streams, 
 
 Ever while man endures, into the lap 
 
 Of Ocean, as thou e'er hast done and dost ! 
 
 Thou wilt not, canst not, whelm a land of which 
 
 Thou art the pride, the magistrate, the chief, 
 
 King I might call thee, but we own no king, 
 
 Save Him who sits upon the throne of Heaven 
 
 Into whose ear-obedient, thou dost sound 
 
 Thy mandates with authoritative voice, 
 
NIAGARA. 31 
 
 Over whose children thou dost ever hold 
 Thy firm resistless sway, and whose delights 
 Are sweet to thee in patriarchal rule, 
 As offspring- voices to parental hearts. 
 Dost thou not bid her household members pray 
 For richest boons of Heaven to store her homes ? 
 Nay, art thou not full oft an altar made, 
 From which the incense of the patriot-heart 
 Ascends perpetually in heavenward course, 
 With the soft curlings of thy vapory breath ? 
 How oft the strong pulsations of thy heart 
 Are felt whene'er thy presence is approached ! 
 Beats not that heart in unison with ours, 
 In deathless love for our own birthright land ? 
 E'en though the minions of decay may spring 
 Their secret mines beneath her deepest base, 
 Eyes numberless with Argus-keenness watch, 
 Hearts swell like thine with fullest tides of hope, 
 To see her tower majestic o'er all lands ! 
 Oh ! if the stream that whirls in eddies wild, 
 Beneath our nation's feet, now heaving up 
 Discordant elements, and wasting slow 
 Her deep foundations, e'er should swell itself 
 And merge thy land ; 'twere a disaster worse 
 By far than deluges that sweep o'er earth ; 
 'T would make angelic bosoms heave with pain, 
 And change thy joyous notes to peals of death ! 
 Yet in thy voice, thou Harbinger of Truth ! 
 I hear the sighings of the down-crushed heart ; 
 
32 NIAGARA. 
 
 In the bright glances of thy sunlit eye, 
 
 I see the flashes of the steel-struck soul ! 
 
 Hear'st thou not oft the death-fraught clash of chains, 
 
 The sighs of burdened spirits, and the shrieks 
 
 Of lips made strangers to affection's kiss ? 
 
 Oh ! shout to southern shores, and bid them strike 
 
 The fetters off from Afric's sunburnt wrists, 
 
 Ere thou shalt celebrate in funeral tones, 
 
 The obsequies of this wide nation's fall ; 
 
 Speak thou persuasive, lest their bondage-scheme 
 
 Shall prove in truth an Alexandrian sword, 
 
 To cut the Gordian knot that binds these states ! 
 
 O tireless Laborer ! what an arm is thine, 
 Wielding for aye its instruments of toil, 
 So like th' Eternal's never stayed in rest; 
 How hoarse the roarings of thy mighty forge ! 
 How bright its flames enkindled by the sun ! 
 Upon yon rocky anvil falls the weight 
 Of thy strong hand, with never-ending blows ! 
 What curious shapes are forged, what images 
 Of various form are wrought by thee in tides, 
 Whose changing hues and eddying life denote, 
 Wondrous Artificer ! thy matchless skill ! 
 Man sways the elements with Godlike power, 
 Speeds his swift vessels with the vapor's wings, 
 And tramples Ocean's billows under foot ; 
 Mountains at his command bow from their heights, 
 And yield their summits to his army's tread, 
 
NIAGARA. 33 
 
 While valleys rise to make his pathways high ; 
 
 With sunbeam-pencils paints he forms of love, 
 
 Outrides the wind and distances swift Time 
 
 With unseen footsteps of electric sprites ; 
 
 But never, O unconquerable One ! 
 
 Can he roll back thy tide or stay thy feet ; 
 
 Within thy grasp less than a child is he, 
 
 A mote, an insect crushed beneath thy hand ; 
 
 'Mid all his high achievements thou art raised 
 
 The unsubdued, the inapproachable, 
 
 As on the throne of Nature's Deity ! 
 
 As by the mandate of the Great I AM, 
 Did Amram's son upon the holy ground 
 Of Horeb's mount, before the burning bush, 
 Make bare his feet and stand in solemn awe, 
 Nor nearer drew lest thus he might offend 
 The dread Divinity in flame arrayed, 6 
 So man, at distance gazing on thy front, 
 O Archetype of God ! must stand in dread, 
 And own the limit of his might to be 
 Described before the bulwarks of thy strength. 
 
 Yet, Master-current ! some of earth's slight forms 
 Survive thy touch, so like Omnipotence, 
 Enough to teach us thou art not a God ; 
 For poised above thy reeling brink repose 
 Sweet islands inaccessible to man, 7 
 Save where his mechanism hath bridged the flood. 8 
 
 3 
 
34 NIAGARA. 
 
 Closely they cluster near thy verge of deathy 
 
 As children, wandering from their father's home, 
 
 And lost in forest mazes speechless stand. 
 
 Breasting thy onward tide, that threatens all 
 
 With most disastrous shipwreck on thy strand, 
 
 Amid the wheeling breakers of thy rocks, 
 
 They seem like life-boats cast upon the sea, 
 
 Or buoys floating in some sand-barred bay, 
 
 Placed by a hand most provident to warn 
 
 Th' unwary seaman of the shoals beneath, 
 
 And thus have served full oft their task of love. 
 
 Lo ! yonder comes a shell-like bark along, 
 
 Whose steersman seems a victim doomed to thee 5 
 
 His broken oar resists in vain thy tide ! 
 
 Yet hope still lingers in his soul of dread r 
 
 As light oft glimmers, when the sun is gone. 
 
 Upon the glaciers of an Alpine height ; 
 
 He sees those refuge spots of earth and seeks, 
 
 Like a lone hunted victim, their defence, 
 
 As those of old, who stained with blood, oft fled 
 
 The hand of vengeance, reaching cities built 
 
 To shield the fugitive, or sacred halls 
 
 Whose consecrated shrines redeemed th' offence. 9 
 
 His hope is yet against all hope, that makes 
 
 His heart grow sick, for through the rapids swift 
 
 That whirl in channels 'twixt those anchored isles, 19 
 
 And shoot like stars 'mid labyrinths of space, 
 
 Or wheel like war-steeds in embattled hosts, 
 
 His bark leaps on by myriad furies driven I 
 
NIAGARA. 35 
 
 O Heaven of mercy ! he has reached yon isle, 
 And morning brings him rescue with its light ! * ! 
 
 Say, isles of hope ! what weighty anchors hold, 
 
 What sturdy cables keep your keels unmoved ? 
 
 Ye have strong hands and sinews triple-formed, 
 
 Thus to resist the strugglings of the tide ! 
 
 How each, like some bold athlete, bending o'er 
 
 The wide arena in gymnastic strife, 
 
 Seems to contend with supple arm and frame 
 
 Of muscular proportions full and broad, 
 
 With sweating brow and movement light and quick, 
 
 To win the crown from his competitor ! 
 
 Are ye not weary of the ceaseless war ? 
 
 Will not your heart-strings break, your strength die out, 
 
 And leave you helpless, to be whirled at last 
 
 Down the broad steep like bombs from mortars shot ? 
 
 Hold on, ye rivals of contending floods ! 
 
 Brave be your hearts, well-nerved your straining arms, 
 
 That man may still a refuge in you find, 
 
 When drawn insensibly within yon tide. 
 
 Ye lovely children of the heartless land ! 
 
 Still love and bless, though reft of sympathy/ 
 
 And from embrace maternal coldly spurned, 
 
 Like kindness by ingratitude cast off! 
 
 Ye straitened acres ! how like grass-grown graves 
 
 Of travellers buried in a stranger-land, 
 
 Ye chequer now that burial-plain of tides ! 
 
36 NIAGARA. 
 
 Ye alien trees ! by forest eyes unseen, 
 How seem to me, like children early torn 
 By barbarous hands from homes of luxury, 
 And made to dwell 'neath savage wigwam roofs, 
 Your trunks and branches growing rudely up, 
 Thoughtless that kindred natures weep their loss ! 
 How o'er the tide you fling your shadows far, 
 And wave your leaves of green, like locks astray 
 Upon the cataract's bald and hoary crown, 
 Or banners trailing in an army's march ! 
 Sweet words of wisdom do ye whisper now, 
 Into my heart, that waken feelings blest ; 
 I read you there as letters on the flood, 
 That teach their silent lessons to my soul. 
 
 Like you, though lonely and unbound by ties 
 Of sweet relationship to aught of earth, 
 We seem flung loosely on the tide of life, 
 'Tis not to sink in overwhelming grief, 
 But like strong swimmers in the surging sea, 
 To breast the breakers till we reach the shore, 
 Or struggle on, though never it be gained ! 
 Oh ! we may feel a sea of cheerless want 
 Roll round us here, and think that death is joy, 
 That life to us and all is nothing worth ; 
 Still may we prove, if faithful to our trust, 
 A place of safety to the shipwrecked heart, 
 A sign of danger in its voyages here ! 
 Yes ! to our ever-outstretched arms sometimes 
 
NIAGARA. 37 
 
 The crippled spirit, hurled by currents fierce, 
 Will rush in hope to make us its retreat, 
 And on our bosoms rest its panting life ! 
 
 Are we not taught that Hope should never die, 
 That Love still keeps her vigils for the lost, 
 While in life's flood sweet isles of shelter float, 
 To which we may, though broken be our oar, 
 With deathless courage and unconquered will, 
 Still steer our spirit-bark, till it shall moor 
 Securely on the banks that bloom with life ? 
 
 Oh ! let us tread earth's gladiatorial floor, 
 And with our rival foes contending, strive 
 With zeal invincible and stern resolve 
 To win the prize, or die with honor crowned ! 
 Never, Oh ! never let our coward hearts 
 Plunder our strength or rob our arm of force ! 
 No ! let us strike our bold, resistless blows, 
 Let us hold fast the weapons of our might, 
 And wield them boldly at the gates of Hell, 
 Till Truth finds triumph o'er its shattered walls, 
 Till God and man shall speak victorious praise ! 
 
 What if ingratitude, like chilling steel, 
 
 Makes our fond hearts bleed freshly in their grief, 
 
 That bled before in sympathy and love, 
 
 For that same hand which drives the weapon home ? 
 
 Shall we then cease our love because unpaid, 
 
38 NIAGARA. 
 
 Or comes to us like prodigals in rags, 
 
 Or leaves a venom where it first was warmed 1 
 
 No ! 'tis not love that, mercenary, seeks 
 
 A full equivalent for all its pains, 
 
 Or turns in heartlessness away from souls 
 
 Who know no object for their love but self; 
 
 But that is love which, when neglected, lives, 
 
 When crushed by curses rises up to bless, 
 
 When wet by streams of chill estrangement burns, 
 
 Burns like the wood on God's own altar laid 
 
 By prophet-hands and fired by prophet-lips, 
 
 E'en though the quenching streams were poured around, 
 
 And flames seemed strangers to the moistened wood ; 
 
 Then may we show our love of heavenly birth, 
 
 That we give worship at the true God's shrine, 
 
 And tell the world its Baal-altars fail 
 
 To prove their deity, who gives no ear 
 
 To its loud prayers, no blessing to its heart. 12 
 
 Are there not truths and principles from Heaven, 
 
 Of cable-strength and anchor- weight, to hold 
 
 Our spirits, otherwise the sport of Hell, 
 
 To which attached we ever may defy 
 
 Its tides of ruin rushing by our rest ? 
 
 Shall we grow weary in the goodly war ? 
 
 No, never ! let us push our crusade on, 
 
 And scale the battlements of Time, e'en though 
 
 Upon their brink we seem to hang o'er death, 
 
 Until we win the holy land in joy ! 
 
NIAGARA. 39 
 
 Hold on, thou heart, though lonely and alone, 
 
 Though wife, nor child, nor friend, nor parent smile ! 
 
 Hold on, though love and sympathy be lost ! 
 
 Be ever brave, though buried thou dost seem, 
 
 In the lone grave-yard of obscurity, 
 
 Far from the spheres where minds accordant dwell, 
 
 Where rude hearts beat no loved response to thine, 
 
 Nor yield their homage to superior birth ! 
 
 Hope on ! love on ! and be to earth's old life, 
 
 What straggling hairs are to the aged head, 
 
 Memorials priceless of the early years, 
 
 The silent teachers of immortal truths'! 
 
 The time of blessing shall arrive at last, 
 
 And men shall own in wonderment thy worth f 
 
 Not of one season is the year composed ; 
 Its months are varied that it may be blest, 
 And Winter's teeth are indispensable, 
 And fully worth the Summer's warming smile ; 
 Man's life is made of years, and must present 
 Misfortune's chill as well as fortune's warmth. 
 Like him, O varying yet unvaried Tide ! 
 I see thee change and still remain the same : 
 On thee the Frost his jewelled signet sets, 
 And makes thee glisten in new shapes of light. 
 
 There came erewhile the power whose breath consumes 
 The Summer's heat and gives her forms to death ; 
 The forest leaves grew pale at his approach, 
 
40 NIAGARA. 
 
 And in his hand the sunbeams seemed like spears, 
 
 Wherewith he pierced their hearts until they bled, 
 
 And lifeless fell to earth in reddening gore ; 
 
 The fertile soil, now yielding pliantly 
 
 To the soft dalliance of the showers and winds, 
 
 Now like some captive in a slave-mart chained, 
 
 Stands sullen and constrained with spirit crushed ; 
 
 All cramped and stiffened, like a stricken form, 
 
 In strong spasmodic swoons it rolls and groans ; 
 
 Through forest limbs the hoarse winds howl like wolves 
 
 With sharpened teeth and claws unmerciful, 
 
 Seeking in hungry madness for their prey ; 
 
 The refted branches strain and crack their joints, 
 
 In vain collision with their ravager. 
 
 Now falls the hurrying sleet, till icicles 
 
 Impend from every jutting point, and clothe 
 
 Each trunk and pensile bough all beauteously, 
 
 As if the potent Genii of the deep, 
 
 Or of the mines where pearls and diamonds rest, 
 
 Had quickly, at the touch of magic lamp, 
 
 Or voice imperative of master-sprites, 
 
 Gathered their treasures from their cells and caves, 
 
 And hung them glittering on each leafless tree. 
 
 Far as the vision journeys round the fields, 
 How every branch begemmed in beauty shines 
 With sunlit radiance and with rainbow hues ! 
 How many myriad eyes seem twinkling now 
 Through every icy interstice of boughs, 
 
NIAGARA. 41 
 
 As if yon firmament were lowered to earth, 
 
 And stars had come to visit us in love, 
 
 On sunbeam-wings to cheer our spirits sad, 
 
 And bid us think that cold though life may be, 
 
 And full of chilling words and frosted hearts, 
 
 There still gleams down upon its withered things 
 
 The light of Heaven to kindle up the soul, 
 
 And make us smile e'en 'mid our cankered hopes. 
 
 Oh ! blessed thought, that on the frozen breast, 
 
 However desolate its inner cells, 
 
 The forms of beauty and the beams of love, 
 
 Will sometimes from the outward world approach, 
 
 Or from above it fall, whose influence sweet 
 
 Will penetrate its labyrinths so dark, 
 
 Will pass the portals of the locked-up heart, 
 
 And hang its necklaces of joy about ; 
 
 Or bent o'er its cold hearth with warming breath, 
 
 Will light its sparkless embers yet once more, 
 
 And make the loves of earth blaze up again. 
 
 Come, look o'er Nature still and mark her change ; 
 The wide lakes once in joyance tossing up 
 Their free-born waves, now lie enslaved with all, 
 Yet struggling fiercely to escape the grasp 
 Of Winter's hand, until their ice-ribs float 
 In thick confusion with their under-tide, 
 Like coral islands built up 'neath the sea; 
 On to thy rocky summit, O dread Fall ! 
 They rush unchecked, upon each other piled, 
 
 3* 
 
42 NIAGARA. 
 
 Till rising up, like ships with crowded sails, 
 
 That form the armaments of earth at sea, 
 
 They sweep impetuous with the swift-heeled tide, 
 
 Upon their foes to bear down ruinously, 
 
 Or meet destruction from a rival's strength ; 
 
 On through the narrow channels, 'twixt the isles 
 
 That seem to tremble at their fierce attacks, 
 
 They move resistless to the groaning verge, 
 
 And with the crash of worlds sink in th' abyss 
 
 All shattered ! Into myriad atoms torn, 
 
 They rise up with the tide like shipwrecked barks, 
 
 That hurled on rocky shores dismembered lie, 
 
 Their shivered timbers and their coppered keels, 
 
 Their broken spars and tattered sails, strewed round. 
 
 Here in the stream e'en at the Cataract's base, 
 
 The crowding wrecks in high embankments rise, 
 
 While masses borne by under-currents down, 
 
 Upheave the masses which above them lie, 
 
 Until piled up, those towering icebergs seem 
 
 Like forts erected to defend the land, 
 
 With pointed palisades around them fixed. 
 
 Slowly they mount that height, before unsealed, 
 
 With icy parapets and pickets high, 
 
 That with imprisoning power surround the tide, 
 
 Whose murmur deep seems now to speak despair, 
 
 And mourn the chilling bondage that it bears ! 
 
 So art thou conquered, O proud Cataract ! 
 
 So strong is Winter's hand that knows no check, 
 
 And triumphs ever over thee in joy ! 
 
NIAGARA. 43 
 
 Yet glorious art thou in thy bondage still, 
 
 Thou Alp majestic 'mid the fettered floods ! 
 
 For thou dost tower like snow-clad mountains high, 
 
 Whose glacier-tops with avalanche unmoved, 
 
 Defy the sun to melt their frozen crowns, 
 
 That steal the radiance of the earliest dawn, 
 
 And shine with eyes that rival e'en the stars ! 
 
 I see thee sitting like a Roman chief 
 
 Upon his curule chair in forum halls, 
 
 Looking with quick and piercing glance around, 
 
 While lictors frontward stand, his body-guard, 
 
 With threatening fasces to enforce his word ; 
 
 Or like an army filed in bold array, 
 
 With muskets bright and bristling bayonets, 
 
 That daze the foemen's eyes which miss their aim. 
 
 The snow comes now in flakes, that fall o'er thee 
 Like bridal veils before a virgin brow ; 
 'Twould seem that Winter thus, mistaking thee 
 For some pure maid, would make thee now his bride, 
 And so like many wed old age to youth ; 
 Or else he comes, with his monastic hand, 
 To thee all clothed in white, that like a nun, 
 Thou mayst here vow and shut thyself from earth ! 
 
 I have looked up on tall ancestral piles 
 Of Gothic architecture framed by art, 
 With marble quarried from the whitened rock, 
 That lifted high their turrets in the light, 
 
44 NIAGARA. 
 
 And pointed many sharpened spires above, 
 
 With rugged front and visages all carved 
 
 In purposed rudeness imitating life. 
 
 And now I seem thus looking up to thee, 
 
 Thou frost-built prison of the captured flood I 
 
 What solemn awe and what emotions deep, 
 
 Of grandeur and sublimity arise 
 
 Within my wondering soul at sight of thee ! 
 
 Now like a Switzer huntsman on the Alps, 
 
 With sandaled foot and iron-pointed staff, 
 
 I traverse here the pathway of thy tide, 
 
 All strongly paved with massive blocks of ice ! 
 
 Down steep declivities, whose sharpened sides 
 
 With jutting icicles oppose my steps, 
 
 I pass securely through with beating heart ; 
 
 Across the clefts by thy convulsions formed, 
 
 I leap along nor see the chasm below ! 
 
 O'er towering peaks whose craggy ascents tire, 
 
 I slowly creep with clinging hand and foot ; 
 
 Now up thy steep, while deaf to caution's voice, 
 
 I mount unwearied, heeding not the threat, 
 
 Thou thunderest forth behind these ponderous walls, 
 
 In smothered tones like those of muffled drums ! 
 
 Aye ! almost to thy verge do I ascend, 
 
 And give thee back my loud triumphant shout ! 
 
 E'en now can I rejoice o'er thee subdued ! 
 
 Yet no ! I glory not o'er vanquished foes, 
 
 O'er captives made to feel their bondage thus, 
 
 And much the less, since not by strength of mine 
 
NIAGARA. 45 
 
 Or wondrous valor thou art thus enslaved ; 
 
 'Tis more magnanimous and just by far, 
 
 To weep and sympathize in love with those 
 
 Whom God hath placed beneath our hand's control, 
 
 As hostages of trust, not collared serfs, 
 
 O'er whom with rule of arbitrary will, 
 
 We are to tyrannize and lift the scourge, 
 
 But to relieve and cherish, making thus 
 
 Friends of our foes, of aliens, citizens, 
 
 As did the Romans with their hosts subdued ; 
 
 So then I leave thee till thy ransom comes, 
 
 Till liberty of speech and act, as erst, 
 
 Are thine once more, O conquered Cataract ! 13 
 
 It comes ! it comes ! the freeing touch of spring, 
 It brings its engines to these icy walls, 
 And batters down their gates and razes them ; 
 The Frost-king's bulwarks tumble to decay, 
 With dismal rumblings, as if earth convulsed, 
 Had opened every mouth to speak her wo ! 
 Swift from their thraldom rush the pent-up tides, 
 Repeating thus the freeman's heartfelt song : 
 
 " O Liberty ! thou boon of Heaven to earth, 
 How priceless more than gems invaluable, 
 Thy presence to the heart that beats for thee ! 
 How bitter is thine absence to the soul, 
 Though other joys in plenty crowd around I 
 What is the light of Hope, the eye of Love, 
 
46 NIAGARA. 
 
 The ease of toilless hours, the voice of Truth, 
 
 The page of Wisdom or the pen of fire ? 
 
 What is the fine-spun garment to the form, 
 
 What are the lute's soft tones, the song of peace, 
 
 If cramped within a narrow prison's walls, 
 
 Or chained to iron- weights, or e'en paroled 
 
 Within a little circle of the earth we move ? 
 
 Without the free light shining on our brows, 
 
 Without the free air passing through our lips, 
 
 Without the action of unfettered limbs, 
 
 Life is not life, 'tis a protracted death ! 
 
 Yes ! e'en the sunlight and the freshening air, 
 
 And sinewy limb are nothing in themselves, 
 
 Save we are born and live and die all free ! 
 
 Our voice unheard amid the loving throng, 
 
 Our hearts unblessed while others know Life's joys, 
 
 Our frames not loosed to be where Nature wills, 
 
 All this is wormwood to the free-born soul, 
 
 That cannot brook another's tyrant hand ! 
 
 Oh ! you may give me earth's most needful gifts, 
 
 Her fruits, her flowers, and all her nourishment ; 
 
 You may envelope me with broidered gold, 
 
 And place me on a brilliant throne of gems ; 
 
 Yet if you keep me back from Freedom's paths, 
 
 If you divest me of my chartered rights, 
 
 If you declare ( no further shalt thou go,' 
 
 You take the blessing of these gifts away ! 
 
 But ah ! if such enslavement makes life curst, 
 
 What is the bondage of yon southern serf, 
 
NIAGARA. 47 
 
 Who, reeking oft beneath the driver's thrall, 
 
 Burns with the sun's hot rays on naked limbs, 
 
 Weeps at the memory of his distant home, 
 
 And yearns for hearts like his in servitude, 
 
 But kept from him by separating bars ? 
 
 If other servile states seem lengthened death, 
 
 Then this of all is most like Hell itself! 
 
 Oh ! place me on some barren shore of rocks, 
 
 On desert-islands, or 'mid sterile wastes, 
 
 In fruitless forests, or on snowy mounts, 
 
 Let griping poverty my nature clutch, 
 
 And cursed foes my life for aye besiege, 
 
 But let me breathe the free air, ever free, 
 
 Wield my own arms and move my feet unchained, 
 
 To roam o'er earth where'er I would, unchecked, 
 
 And then I ask no more ; for stern resolve, 
 
 A most indomitable will, a heart 
 
 O'erfull of hope and confidence in God, 
 
 A purpose right with Truth my leading-star, 
 
 Will bring me all that life demands below ; 
 
 Oh ! give me Freedom and you give me life ! 
 
 Then will I grapple with my hell- born foes, 
 
 Make them retreat in terror to their homes, 
 
 Harness Life's lightning-steeds, its griefs, its pains, 
 
 In curbed subjection to my victor-car, 
 
 Or crowd Care's vapor-breath between its wheels, 
 
 And make them speed me to my destined bliss ! 
 
 Yes ! I will e'en the best incentives draw 
 
 To nobler action from discouragements, 
 
48 NIAGARA. 
 
 For when I fall, 'tis but to rise again 
 
 To higher summits than I've yet attained, 
 
 And not lie down in dust and sackcloth wrapped, 
 
 In overwhelming grief that palsies life. 
 
 I'll feel, when hills of opposition rise, 
 
 They must be levelled to my footsteps' course ; 
 
 When vales of gloomy doubt sink down within, 
 
 They must be raised to heights of sure success ; 
 
 When filled with weighty purposes of soul 
 
 I'll see Hope's sunlight far beyond Grief's cloud, 
 
 And mark my path as with an iron-track, 
 
 O'er which I'll fly to reach the promised joy ; 
 
 Oh ! give me Freedom, and you give me life !" 
 
 Along the beetling crags of thy freed stream, 
 And down its banks of loosened rock I creep, 
 To view the wonders of thy realm, O Fall ! 
 Lo ! now I stand before the emerald tide 14 
 That laves my feet while here I frame a lay, 
 To this swift issue of thine ebbing heart : 
 
 " Hail, River of the Fall ! begot of Eld ! IS 
 Patrician 'mid the plebeian throng of rills, 
 Born in the fountain of Jehovah's hand ! 
 Far from the mountains' rock-ribbed sides, 
 Pierced by Convulsion's spear, thou flowest down, 
 The life-blood of their hearts ; thou too art formed 
 Of all the myriad sweat-drops from the brows 
 Of earth's young hills, in toiling strength that strive 
 
NIAGARA. 49 
 
 To pass the clouds and form a rest for stars. 
 
 The dews of even, the vapors of the morn, 
 
 The streams that gush from out the rifted rock, 
 
 Like tears from manly eyes in sorrow's hour, 
 
 Are gathered in thy course to join thy tide, 
 
 And sweep afar unwearied and unbound ! 
 
 On to th' embrace of Ocean gray and old, 
 
 Thy virgin arms in filial love reach forth, 
 
 And spotless fingers play in dalliance pure 
 
 'Mid his unnumbered locks so white and long. 
 
 Thou, girded by the hills that form the shore 
 
 Of steep precipitous rocks and grassy banks, 
 
 Dost wing thy flight e'en like the bird that soars 
 
 Above or skims thy breast ; for like that bird, 
 
 Thou hast on either side a wing outspread, 
 
 Plumed with gay verdure, tipped with blossoms white ; 
 
 And thou hast changed thy plumage oft, which Time 
 
 Hath plucked to warm his withered frame in vain. 
 
 With claws of icicles old Winter too 
 
 Hath torn away the down-like green that clothed 
 
 Thy mighty pinions ; yet again sweet Spring 
 
 Hath vested thee in beauty, warmed thy heart, 
 
 Unriveted thy chains, and broke the bars 
 
 Wherewith thou hadst been caged, and set thee free ; 
 
 The Summer's eye hath made more bright thy hues, 
 
 Until the radiance of thy waves and banks 
 
 Hath so intensely glowed, that e'en this heart, 
 
 Tn which the spring-tide of its song had ebbed, 
 
 And summer-ray of love was almost quenched, 
 
50 NIAGARA . 
 
 Leaped up in rapture with a strain for thee. 
 
 Down to the sea's wide halls thy tireless tide, 
 
 From northern hills and mountains' cloven brows, 
 
 Still flows when south winds with their life-fraught breath, 
 
 Come soft from sunny climes o'er wave and vale. 
 
 How sweetly, when the Day hath dropped his lid, 
 
 And Eve o'er Nature flings her mantle gray, 
 
 Dances the moonbeam to the melody 
 
 Which oft thy waters play most musical, 
 
 To fill the ear with harpings of the Night. 
 
 The Zephyrs fleet on thy wave-covered, breast, 
 
 Leave as they speed the imprint of their feet, 
 
 E'en as the desert steeds their pathway make 
 
 On the wide circle of the silvery sand. 
 
 I saw the dark wing of the tempest pass, 
 
 As with the raven's hue, to dim the sky ; 
 
 The lightning's glance shot fiercely from the cloud, 
 
 As toward the burning day-star fearless looks 
 
 Shoot from the daring eagle's eye aloft : 
 
 That wing then fanned the water's flushing cheek, 
 
 And from my view obscured the moonbeam's smile, 
 
 But soon away far in the realms of blue, 
 
 With wild storm-shrieks and rushing whirls, it fled. 
 
 Then softly came again thy murmur near, 
 
 With virgin voice, like whisperings of rain, 
 
 Gently it rose the spirit of the air, 
 
 Telling of joy, and love, and liberty ! 
 
 Oh ! the sweet rush of waters, how it speaks 
 
 Of Heaven's far bliss, and in the holy heart 
 
NI AGAR A . 51 
 
 Echoes the songs of ransomed souls above, 
 Songs that shall flow with crystal streams of life, 
 Eternally along a rapturous tide, 
 'Mid sacred homes where God is all in all." 
 
 Adown thy banks, great River ! still I roam, 
 
 Though from the overhanging rocks above, 
 
 Thy frowns be brooding terror on my path, 
 
 Or from the pendant moss thy tear-drops fall 
 
 In grief because of my intrusive feet ; 
 
 A rugged pathway o'er thy rocks I find, 
 
 Anon o'ergrown with clambering eglantine, 
 
 Feeding its blossoms from a scanty soil, 
 
 And now projecting high their sharpened points 
 
 T' avenge th' encroachments of the curious foot. 
 
 Here, many a grotesque grotto, rock and cave, 18 
 
 Where silence sleeps, and spirits make their home, 
 
 Where sunlight is a stranger, and its warmth 
 
 A foe that dreads encounter, meet the gaze. 
 
 See, in their hollow chambers, that repeat 
 
 The pantings of my breast with mocking hate, 
 
 What pure stalactites, pendant from the roof, 
 
 Like Chasteness drooping with downfallen lids, 
 
 Seem in their varied shapes to be the forms 
 
 That tricksy spirits love to dwell within, 
 
 Wrought by their plastic hands with matchless skill ! 
 
 These dim recesses, scarcely trod by man, 
 
 Seem laboratories for their unseen art, 
 
 Or council halls for their prolific minds, 
 
52 NIAGARA. 
 
 Wherein they mingle Nature's elements, 
 And frame in mirth her images of life, 
 Or plan their projects for assaults on man. 
 
 Ye rugged Cliffs ! whose high embattled fronts 
 
 Erect their fortress o'er the eddying tide, 
 
 To guard the frontier of this chainless soil, 
 
 Birthplace of brave unconquerable souls ! 
 
 How like the stern commanders in a fight, 
 
 Ye stand arrayed with panoply of strength ! 
 
 What thoughtful grandeur lies imprinted deep 
 
 Upon your verdant brows and moistened cheeks, 
 
 Like the sad countenance of a care-worn soul ; 
 
 Yet oh ! what terror poised in mid air seems 
 
 About to roll upon intruding man, 
 
 Who walks a pigmy at your pebbly feet ! 
 
 Lo ! while I speak, your arms are far outstretched 
 
 To hurl their rocky missiles down th' abyss, 
 
 As if ye were dread catapults of wo ! 
 
 What demon fell doth now unchain your hands, 
 
 And bids you scatter ruin all below ? 
 
 I hear your voice now hoarsely thundering, 
 
 And see your rock-bolts hurtling in the air ! 
 
 Stay, Ravager of life ! stop, Fiend, thy work ! 
 
 Alas ! too late ! he who in solemn awe 
 
 And rapt delight had gazed aloft on all 
 
 The stern bold veterans of this guarded camp ; 
 
 He who had said to rocks and cataracts, 
 
 " Ye are my foes and yet I dread you not," 
 
NIAGARA. 53 
 
 Feels, now descending, their vindictive strokes, 
 And sinks with shattered corpse upon the strand ! 17 
 
 dread Avenger ! fearful 'tis for man 
 To bid defiance to thy potent arm, 
 
 Or trifle with thine ancient dignity ; 
 
 'Tis e'en as if he braved the might of God, 
 
 And flung rebellion at His honored throne ! 
 
 Ye Turrets of the stream ! I dread your fall, 
 
 And pray th' Omnipotent to keep you up ! 
 
 With trembling heart and humble voice and step, 
 
 1 tread in sinuous course the shivered rocks, 
 And stand at thy dark entrance, mystic Cave ! 
 Which men have called the "Cavern of the Winds." l8 
 E'en though the showery spray may drench my form, 
 To claim its guerdon for intrusion here, 
 
 I enter now and stand within the court 
 
 Of this vast temple, whither throng the tribes 
 
 Of earth from her unnumbered fonts, to bow 
 
 In kindred worship at their altar flood, 
 
 As came the Patriarch's children from their homes, 
 
 To render homage at the ancient shrine. 19 
 
 Within thy high-arched walls, the priestly winds, 
 
 Assembled from the distant realms of life, 
 
 Do minister apart in solemn train, 
 
 Sending aloft the smoke of sacrifice, 
 
 In the thick curlings of the rising mist, 
 
 The waves their victims, and the flint their knife. 
 
54 NIAGARA. 
 
 I hear the death-stroke and the gurgling groans, 
 The heart-deep invocation of the winds, 
 The shout of multitudes in outer courts, 
 The chorus-music of the waterfall ! 
 I see the sombre walls, the bowing roof, 
 And feel my spirit overpressed with awe ! 
 Delay no longer, O my soul, or die ! 
 Back to the sunlight's sympathy I rush, 
 And breathe more gentle airs on earth again. 
 
 Happy for me that I may thus escape, 
 Since to another came the penal strokes 
 Of angry winds, who, when their temple-halls 
 Were entered by his sacrilegious foot, 
 Claimed, unappeased, the forfeit of his life. 
 
 Still down thy banks, O River of the Fall ! 
 
 I roam in dream-like ecstasy enthralled ; 
 
 I heed no danger, yield to no repulse, 
 
 No hardship dread, and feel no weariness, 
 
 So rapturous my thoughts, so strong the spell 
 
 Of thy wild beauty o'er my soul, until 
 
 Oblivious of my own identity, 
 
 I seem a part of Nature's edifice, 
 
 Built round these laboring floods to screen their toil, 
 
 Here standing awed amid her central halls. 
 
 All these are thy hereditary homes, 
 
 That meet the view as those of feudal lands, 
 
 Where kings and castles guard the tenant-soil, 
 
NIAGARA. 55 
 
 The soil round which the deep-dug moat extends, 
 E'en as thy channels stretch between their banks, 
 Beyond whose wide gap with its bridge withdrawn, 
 The strong portcullis of most ponderous weight, 
 Falls with the treadings of thy cataract ! 
 
 What towering form erects its figure here, 
 
 To check the footsteps of inquiring man, 
 
 As if it were a sentry at his post, 
 
 To guard with faithfulness the narrow pass ? 
 
 It is the Rock of Manitou, the Pinnacle * 
 
 On which the gloomy Spirit of the Fall, 
 
 Sits brooding o'er the tide below, that shows 
 
 His fearful frowns reflected in its wave, 
 
 Or feels the movements of his busy hand 
 
 Searching its depths and torturing its course, 
 
 Till its full currents reel in conscious pain ! 
 
 How high the Water-God his altar rears 
 
 With jagged summits from a liquid base ! 
 
 How green the moss that decks its time-worn crown, 
 
 Like youthful forms that cluster round old age ! 
 
 From yonder cliff impending o'er the stream 
 
 With shadowy fringes of the evergreen, 
 
 This massive pile, like an inverted cone, 
 
 Seems hurled in other years with giant hand, 
 
 Upon the kindred masses dashed below ! 
 
 Here on thy height, thou offspring of the cliff! 
 
 Do I usurp the throne of Manitou, 
 
 Yet tremulously bend to gaze intent 
 
56 NIAGARA. 
 
 Upon th' imprisoned waters, struggling hard 
 
 Within their rock-bound area for escape, 
 
 Like chafing lions caged by iron bars, 
 
 And lashing, in ungovernable rage, 
 
 Their heated sides with love for liberty ! 
 
 On through the straitened gorge they wildly rush, 
 
 And maddened with repulse return again, 
 
 But to renew their strength for victory, 
 
 And make fresh onsets to conclude the siege ! 
 
 Anon they fling their foaming arms on high, 
 
 And hurl their javelin tides to win the pass ; 
 
 Again they sound retreat in columns close, 
 
 Shrinking away, as if in fear, but yet 
 
 Returning still invincible, with new 
 
 Assailing bands that to their rescue rush ; 
 
 They speed like worried steeds that scour the plain, 
 
 Champing their bits and foaming at the mouth. 
 
 Ho ! now they triumph with terrific shout, 
 
 And break each barrier that obstructs their march, 
 
 Leaping from rock to rock, from bank to bank, 
 
 And dashing up against the tall crag's base, 
 
 As if to scale its unascended walls. 
 
 The channel's bed seems now to ope below 
 
 And leave a thousand outlets for its tides ; 
 
 For round and round, the rapid vortices, 
 
 Like the gyrations swift of eagle-wings, 
 
 Whirl in the wild delirium of their joy, 
 
 As if intoxicate with bright success, 
 
 Bearing away from human view below, 
 
NIAGARA. 57 
 
 For long unreckoned hours, the shattered spoils, 
 Hurled into their embrace from yonder flood. 
 Now, summoned in united ranks of strength, 
 The waters meet and form the whirlpool's shape, 
 That seems its own destroyer, turning round 
 T' ingulf its life, in madness unrestrained, 
 And then its own creator, from its maw 
 Ejected, till away it shoots in light, 
 A wild artillery of floods, that lose 
 Their name and likeness in Ontario's wave ! 21 
 
 Once more, my steps retraced, before thy front 
 I stand an awe-struck listener to thy words, 
 Great Primate of the floods, whose breathings die 
 All hushed before the pantiugs of thy heart, 
 That gushes out with Nature's loudest voice ! 
 What lessons from her book may we receive ? 
 Loud from thy pulpit most magnificent, 
 Thou solemn Preacher, pour with voiceful tongue, 
 Into the ear of man thy homilies ! 
 Oh ! tell how beamed the early-born of light 
 With freshest hues upon thy crystal lips ! 
 How shone its beauties o'er thine amber brow, 
 And how the imaged stars leaped down thy sides, 
 And sported in the sparkling waves below ! 
 Tell how th' Almighty from his hand profuse, 
 Scattered the leaves of incense-breathing flowers, 
 Where first that hand had cleaved the rock in twain, 
 And left them on its ancient-looking sides, 
 
 4 
 
58 NIAGARA. 
 
 Clinging in love, as clingeth youth to age f 
 
 Tell thou, when Nature's harp was newly strung, 
 
 And sounded in yon firmament afar, 
 
 .How to their choral stations rushed the stars 
 
 At morn's first waking, in their joy to sing 
 
 Their hymn of life, and make their footsteps light 
 
 Accompany in dance their shout and song, 
 
 Their movement seeming naught but music's self! 
 
 Tell how from fountains inexhaustible 
 
 Thy spring-tides leaped to life at God's great voice, 
 
 And held its echoes in their silent depths, 
 
 Till rolled their thunderings o'er thy rocky heights ! 
 
 Say, spoke thou not in loudest tones of joy, 
 
 To see green life born on thy stony banks ? 
 
 When first the day-star climbed th' ethereal steep, 
 
 Didst thou not glass his light reflecting wide 
 
 The glory of his crest on every height ? 
 
 Aye, thou hast heralded his advent morn, 
 
 And caught his beauty penciled on thy mist 
 
 In the blent colors of the rainbow's arch. 
 
 When sang the morning stars their first-born hymn, 
 
 Thy deep-toned music mingled with their voice ! 
 
 Tell me, thou Waterfall, were not their strains 
 
 Like thine, a cataract of song, that came 
 
 Enrapturing to thine ear, as if from Heaven 
 
 Celestial bands had stooped and made the air 
 
 Itself harmonious with unwritten notes ? 
 
 Didst thou not cease thy flow, and breathless hush 
 
 The dull discordance of thy fluid tongue, 
 
NIAGARA. 59 
 
 And listen awe-struck to their choral-song ? 
 
 Or tell thou rather, if of later times 
 
 Thou hadst thy birth, when earth from Heaven baptized, 
 
 Was in the font of Nature purified, 
 
 When man corrupt sank in the deluge-depths, 
 
 And left no blazing monument of crime ! 
 
 Was not thy shout first rung in earth's sad ear, 
 
 When rushed the gathered tide along thy path, 
 
 When bows of promise bridged thy dripping banks ? 
 
 Ah ! there they glisten in the penciled light, 
 
 For ever painted on thy dewy brow, 
 
 Thy wreaths of glory fadeless as the sun ! 
 
 There still like blessed amaranthine flowers, 
 
 They bloom immortal with the youth of heaven, 
 
 As fresh, as fair, as beautiful and bright 
 
 As when at first, traced by the pencil-touch 
 
 Of hands divine, they trembled o'er thy depths ! 
 
 Yet, yet we cannot deem thee less in age 
 
 Than stars that troop above thee, on the hills 
 
 That keep their soldier-watch around, and build 
 
 The unstormed bulwark of thy warlike tides ; 
 
 The myriad gray locks of thy wrinkled brow 
 
 Tell us of years unnumbered save by thee ! 
 
 Speak, Waterfall ! announce thy primal birth ! 
 
 What age first cradled thee ? declare thyself 
 
 Ancient as man, coeval with the Sun ! 
 
 For nameless centuries, each child of Time 
 
 Born with that sun, each day has heard thy voice 
 
 Sounding a morning welcome to the light, 
 
60 NIAGARA. 
 
 And when it rose to manhood's zenith-home, 
 Thy cheer went up triumphing in its joy, 
 Until the twilight gray sprinkled its brow 
 With hoary hairs, and laid it down to die. 
 Each varying season of the year has heard 
 Th' unvaried rhythm of thy deep-toned song. 
 O Priest of Nature ! at her altar bent, 
 Still ministering unwearied at thy task, 
 Thou hast invoked with supplications thus, 
 The power that breathes her being into earth : 
 
 " Spirit of life, awake ! the sepulchre 
 
 Of frost no more must hold the beauteous forms 
 
 Of thy creation ! Come and re-assume 
 
 Thy garment of material things, and smile 
 
 In fresh-awakened flowers, in verdant hills, 
 
 In fruitful vales and liberated streams ; 
 
 Descend, O Breath ! and let terrestrial shapes 
 
 Arise and in celestial beauty shine ! 
 
 Bring gentle Spring, and waft her odors round 
 
 With the sweet fannings of angelic wings ; 
 
 Recall the exiled birds, whose song may be 
 
 To my deep bass the treble melody. 
 
 Bring Summer with her golden tresses near, 
 
 Till drop the pastures of the wilderness, 
 
 With the rich presents of her bounteous hand, 
 
 Till the wide vales are clothed with browsing herds, 
 
 And hills shout to each other in their joy ! 
 
 Bring Autumn in her mantle sere enrobed, 
 
NIAGARA . 61 
 
 With paling cheek, to strew o'er earth her seed, 
 
 The treasured messengers of future growth ; 
 
 While myriad branches drop their faded leaves, 
 
 That in the deep and silent woods are heard, 
 
 The echoing footfalls of the passing year, 
 
 As if its days with quick and shortened steps, 
 
 Were hurrying darkly to complete its life. 
 
 Or let old Winter come with mission stern ; 
 
 We need not ever fear his frowning face, 
 
 For on his brow is sagest wisdom graved, 
 
 And in his heart are blessed images ; 
 
 His touch, though cold and hardening, purifies, 
 
 His chains, though heavy, check our vagrant course, 
 
 His grasp, though painful, yet is strengthening ; 
 
 Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter bring to earth ; 
 
 Bring Day and Night, bring Morning, Noon and Eve, 
 
 Day for the sleeper to awake and toil, 
 
 Night for the wearied laborer to repose, 
 
 Morn for the youthful heart to light its path, 
 
 Noon for maturity to heat its brow, 
 
 Eve for decrepitude to trace the Past ; 
 
 Bring all these seasons in their order round, 
 
 These parts and members of Time's towering shape, 
 
 Whose chariots are the whirlwind and the storm, 
 
 And clouds the dust of his still journeying feet." 2 * 
 
 The quiet eve comes on, the rest of day, 
 When fleeing hill and dell, the sun lies down, 
 By the dun shadows curtained in his rest. 
 
62 NIAGARA. 
 
 Yet sweetly to the grassy valley's verge, 
 
 The lingering rays, e'en as if loth to part 
 
 With the sweet flowers 'mid which at morn they played, 
 
 Cling fondly, till no more they dare delay, 
 
 Then climb the hills, and cast one parting look 
 
 Upon the meadows and the streams below. 
 
 From this high point, on which my footsteps rest, 
 
 I look upon this beauteous land, outstretched 
 
 In loveliest forms far 'mid the distance blue, 
 
 Till by the mountains checked, my vision halts 
 
 On yonder slope that creeps beneath their feet, 
 
 And rises up afar to haughty heights. 
 
 Sweet Nature's green and sunlight's yellow hues, 
 
 Mingle as in a dying look of day. 
 
 Far from the valley's darkening breast has passed 
 
 The brightness of the noon, and now it seems 
 
 To take its rest, spread o'er with shades of trees, 
 
 As with its night-robe clothed ; calmly it lies 
 
 In its soft, peaceful bed, like some sweet maid, 
 
 Lying in deepest trance, and yet not dead, 
 
 Glowing with beauty, e'en though motionless, 
 
 As if all life and motion were forgot. 
 
 Yon vale is checked, its verdant face is hid 
 
 By those tall banks, where streamlets blend their tears, 
 
 In one vast stream, whose ever hurrying tides 
 
 Trace their most way along in winding course, 
 
 That oft o'erflowing, with their gathered strength, 
 
 Their native bars leap up the steep hillside, 
 
 Till far off vales with covering waters fill, 
 
NIAGARA. 63 
 
 Nor smile again till crowding sunbeams come, 
 And bear them captive to the distant cloud ; 
 How sweetly then those vales reclining seem 
 With glistening herbage, bright as emerald gems, 
 That creeps up into being with the Spring, 
 Twin-born with her, copartner of her youth. 
 But lo ! the shades high to the hill-tops mount, 
 And bats that fear the day are flitting by, 
 The last red ray of yonder setting sun, 
 Like the last drop for love and Freedom shed, 
 Poured out on earth to be exhaled to heaven, 
 Is thrown from mountain-heights up to the cloud, 
 Whose edge it tinges with its gorgeous hue, 
 Then in the gray sky pales itself in death ! 
 So die the good ; they spend a day below, 
 In blessing hearts benighted, with their light, 
 Diffusing Love's own warmth through all its cells, 
 And to Hope's zenith lift their lofty souls, 
 While tides of joy and clouds of care oft met, 
 Are friends and foes that bless or curse them here, 
 Till down Life's circle they at evening pass, 
 And o'er the crystal river stoop to drink, 
 Whence in the pathway of the true and just, 
 They brighter shine unto the perfect day. 
 
 Night now is on the waters ! but a night 
 Not of deep gloom, when stormy spirits rave, 
 Clashing their thundering arms with lightning-strokes, 
 Casting o'er earth, their war-field, drops of life, 
 
64 NIAGARA. 
 
 And marking on her surface words of death ; 
 It is a night of calm, of loveliness, 
 Streaming along the turrets of the sky, 
 Like silver banners hung o'er castles gray, 
 And spreading over isles and waterfalls, 
 The moonlight radiance through benighted clouds, 
 Like leaves of sunset torn from daylight's book, 
 Laid down at intervals on fields of shade. 
 
 I saw the day-star set behind the hills ; 
 
 The shadows fell o'er plain, and stream, and vale, 
 
 As if the sunbeams bright had lost their life, 
 
 And now had lengthened out their darkened forms 
 
 To die on earth ; slowly they sank to rest, 
 
 Their requiem sung in vesper-tones of birds, 
 
 And leaves and brooks that murmured low their grief 
 
 In muffled winds, and groaning cataracts ; 
 
 The tearful flowers their censers waved in arr, 
 
 The streams moved on funereal to the sea, 
 
 Their burial-place, bearing with solemn looks 
 
 The death-shades of the day; and as they marched 1 , 
 
 Their footsteps lightly might be heard to sweep 
 
 Along th' enamelled banks, themselves all clad 
 
 With Night's dim robe of grief. The hills stood by, 
 
 Like dark-veiled mourners round the couch of death, 
 
 With sorrow mute, ar.d witnessed last of all 
 
 Tho spectacle of Day's departing light, 
 
 Sending their tears forth from their fountain-eyes, 
 
 While the green trees, their offspring on their breasts, 
 
NIAGARA . 65 
 
 Wept dew-drops down upon the sad dark bier, 
 Borne by the rivers on. All Earth was still, 
 Her hour for tears had now returned again, 
 For darkness settled on her heart its weight ; 
 The moaning Waterfall threw down his form 
 In grief's abandonment, and writhed in wo ; 
 Yet not forgetful of the widowed sky, 
 Into her ear he poured his sympathies 
 With manly voice, to soothe her aching breast ; 
 And o'er her brow to close her sleepless lids, 
 Whose starry lashes shone 'mid dewy tears, 
 Drew the soft curtains of his gauze-like mists. 
 Slowly the moments made their pilgrimage, 
 For the dim clouds hung o'er the path of Time, 
 To frown away the stars that measure night, 
 And check his chariot wheels in circling course. 
 The last deep sigh of natural life seemed heaved, 
 At evening, and methought the pulseless earth 
 Had died indeed, her children parentless, 
 And not a kindred orb to weep her loss. 
 But lo ! a spirit's wing appeared to fan 
 The fainting world, and lifelike airs were breathed, 
 The clouds were cleft, and through the opening rifts, 
 Beyond the hills, a mellow ray rose up, 
 The full-orbed moon on toward the zenith wheeled, 
 Filling the air with harmonies of light. 
 See, how like some pure maid, with glowing brow 
 And panting breast, her locks and garments loose, 
 She seems to rest her weary feet, that strove, 
 
 4* 
 
66 NIAGARA. 
 
 All day before the swift-pursuing Sun, 
 Amid the starry forests, to escape 
 The hot embraces of his loving arms ; 
 And now in triumph smiling she looks down 
 To see her image mirrored on the stream, 
 Above which, floating silently, she binds 
 Her locks disheveled, and adjusts her robes. 
 The forest-trees, like monks in cloisters dim, 
 Where shines a solitary lamp around, 
 Seem on their brows to wear the shading cowl, 
 And with their leaves to tell their beaded prayers. 
 As when from tower and hill the silver trump, 
 That told the new-moon's advent-hour, was heard, 
 Sounded by priestly lips, whose eyes kept watch 
 On Canaan's heights, to bid her people haste 
 And hold their lunar festival anew, 23 
 So from thy watchtower, thou dost trumpet forth, 
 Still faithful in thy ministering office found, 
 O strong- voiced Cataract ! with wakening tones 
 Thy welcome to the Measurer of months, 
 Thy summons to the near and distant tides, 
 To ebb and flow beneath her influence soft, 
 And congregate within thy templed courts, 
 To do her homage, bowing at her shrine. 
 
 Lo ! what enchantment now enthrals the earth ! 
 Whose scenes all changed from sadness to delight, 
 Here revel in resuscitated life ! 
 Like the wide area of a tournament, 
 
NIAGARA. 67 
 
 Where steel-clad knights and beauteous maidens throng, 
 
 Where king and courtier, prince and vassal meet, 
 
 Where queens and rustic lasses glance around, 
 
 All decked with colors stolen from the sun, 
 
 So now each field, each hill, each rocky crag, 
 
 Each tree, each island, and each waterfall, 
 
 Sparkling beneath the moon's maternal smile, 
 
 Gleams with the lustre of her borrowed beams. 
 
 O'er all is cast alternate light and shade, 
 
 Like histories of life writ on the heart. 
 
 The images of trees, wrought on the tides 
 
 By intercepted rays, seem sailing down ; 
 
 The frowns of haughty cliffs are now transferred 
 
 To waters meeting in their tilted fight ; 
 
 And in their stead the smiles of love appear, 
 
 As though like worshiped mistresses they looked, 
 
 With eager interest on the joust below, 
 
 Prepared to cast their crowns on conquering brows. 
 
 On visored mists, where lunar rainbows curve, 
 
 See now is hung a coronet of light, 
 
 Across the temples of the Cataract 
 
 That towers in triumph o'er his rival hosts, 
 
 And loudly from the tented field ascend 
 
 Exulting shouts, to claim the victor's meed ; 
 
 While minstrel-streamlets chant in liquid strains, 
 
 Their welcome praises to his panting soul, 
 
 And tell the sweets of summer's maiden-charms. 
 
 O Night most beautiful ! O lovely Night ! 
 
 With tesselated brow and eyes of jet, 
 
68 NIAGARA. 
 
 Where light and darkness like twin-children meef, 
 
 How rapt my spirit lies beneath thy spell, 
 
 And yields its musings to thy sweet control ! 
 
 O genial Night ! thy halls are populous ! 
 
 Thy realm is not the home of solitude, 
 
 For images of life move through thine aisles. 
 
 And voices musical thine arches fill f 
 
 Hark ! what strange music hither floats along, 
 
 As if some spirit from the world of sound 
 
 Were passing now o'er earth with flitting wings, 
 
 That drop sweet notes, like dews from pinioned forms? 
 
 And ha f what shape, as o'er the Cataract hang, 
 
 Stands on the point of yon projecting ledge 1 
 
 What form is that ? A phantom of the night ? 
 
 An errant spirit loosed from airy climes ? 
 
 'Tis he, lone man ! the Hermit of the Fall ! 
 
 That kinless wanderer, seen but yet unknown ! M 
 
 He came a stranger to these western homes, 
 
 A wonder to the hosts that throng this shrine, 
 
 Far from the isle that sleeps beyond the wave, 
 
 The brightest gem in Ocean's coronet, 
 
 That in the firmament of nations shines 
 
 A star ascendant, whose high gtories reach 
 
 These shores, and distant climes that seem 
 
 The birthplace and the cradle of the sun. 
 
 He came, he saw thy lovely form, thy curling brow, 
 
 And radiant smile, he heard thy siren voice r 
 
NIAGARA. 69 
 
 And ravished by thy looks and tones of love, 
 
 Gave thee his heart, thou Circe of the flood ! 
 
 Upon yon isle, where daylight's Iris hues 
 
 Lie down at night in weariness to sleep, 
 
 His lonely chamber, from the sun' ^ams hid, 
 
 Holds him a willing captive, self-exiled 
 
 From social raptures and companionships 
 
 Of man ; no stranger-foot his threshold treads, 
 
 No kindly voice of friendship bids his tongue 
 
 Utter the sad creations of his soul ; 
 
 No smile of woman sparkled on his eye, 
 
 Source of man's highest joy and deepest wo! 
 
 But solitude, the brooding spirit of decay, 
 
 Parent of melancholy, ever dwells 
 
 All solemn, silent and unseen, with him, 
 
 Aye undisturbed save by the stealthy tread 
 
 Of creatures mute that are his only friends. 
 
 There all the livelong day he sits and writes 
 
 In undeciphered words of ancient tongues, 
 
 The thoughts that eat his heart and burn his brain ; 
 
 Thoughts which no human eye but his may trace, 
 
 Marred by his hand and scattered to the winds, 
 
 Ever as they in solitude are framed. 
 
 At midnight now, when other eyes grow dim, 
 
 When brows that burned with sorrow's feverish thoughts, 
 
 Or reeled from sorceries of circling cups, 
 
 When hearts that found new life in love's wild trance, 
 
 Or died in their neglected loneliness, 
 
 When wearied feet that chased the flying morn, 
 
 
70 NIAGARA. 
 
 In the quick footsteps of the lengthened dance, 
 
 Are laid to rest amid their silent halls, 
 
 He from his lone retirement issues forth, 
 
 To pace with measured step th' accustomed walk 
 
 Impending darkly o'er the cataract's verge, 
 
 While, with his bird-like flute or low guitar, 
 
 He plays some plaintive strain, or sings some lay, 
 
 That to the heedless winds and waters tell 
 
 The sorrows of his solitary soul. 
 
 Oh ! ye wild airs that charm the listening night, 
 
 What sentiments of grief do ye declare ! 
 
 Ye spirit-winds, ye hurrying waters, stay ! 
 
 And give your audience to his mournful tale, 
 
 Oft by his tongue repeated in your ear ; 
 
 Rehearse to me the story of his pain, 
 
 And tell what worm concealed within his heart, 
 
 Preys ever on its most harmonious strings ; 
 
 Hark ! 'tis his voice which winds and waters bring 
 
 To teach the secret lessons of his life : 
 
 " Oh ! not to me in pleasant places fall 
 The lines of life, no goodly heritage 
 Is mine, e'en though 'mid scenes magnificent, 
 The crowning acts of Nature's handiwork, 
 I dwell, enfranchised from the world of man ; 
 These glories of the rock and waterfall 
 Serve but to show the darkness that indwells 
 My restless soul, prey to a withering curse ; 
 Or if their sweet enchantment lures my heart 
 
NIAGARA . 71 
 
 One moment to forgetfulness of wo, 
 Or fills the vacuum made by damning deeds, 
 It leaves within, whene'er its charm has fled, 
 A thousand tortures worse than yet endured, 
 So wide the contrast seems, so dread the space 
 Between these works of God and this dark soul ! 
 
 voiceful waters ! would that ye might drown 
 The miseries of my spirit, or else wash 
 
 The stain of guilt from off my rifted heart ; 
 How like these rocks, worn by the torturing tide, 
 That heart lies hopeless in my shattered breast ! 
 
 1 dare not look on man, his staring eye 
 Seems full of accusations to my soul, 
 And on my brow he ever seems to read 
 The curse of Cain imprinted deeply there ! 
 A fugitive and vagabond myself 
 
 I view on earth 'mid its most peopled walks ; 
 The hand that deals avenging justice seems 
 Above me raised, yet never to descend, 
 Keeping me- e'er in torturing suspense ; 
 For still I live, though 'tis a living death 
 I feel, to which the horrors of the tomb 
 Seem but a lovely Paradise of bliss, 
 And e'en the labyrinths of the lost, a home 
 Almost Elysian, for as hope persuades, 
 My soul shall meet and fellowship e'en there 
 With kindred spirits, whom to dwell among 
 Will give companionship to my despair. 
 Oh ! that the day might perish wherein first * s 
 

 72 NIAGARA. 
 
 I saw the light, that God might never smile 
 
 Upon its dawn, nor sun bestow its beams ; 
 
 That it were darkness only, deeper far 
 
 Than Memphis saw when plagues from Heaven came 
 
 down ; 
 
 Yea, that the shades of death might stain its brow, 
 And clouds of darkness terrify its heart ; 
 That it, aye disinherited of Time, 
 Might never join the circling dance of years, 
 Nor find its place among the numbered months ! 
 Lo ! let that night be solitude itself, 
 Its twilight stars be drowned in darkening tides, 
 Because for me it oped the gates of life, 
 To send me wandering over fields of death ! 
 Why beat my heart against a mother's breast, 
 Why at its font did I existence draw ? 
 Would that destruction's hand had quickly seized 
 My infant life, and cast it down death's steep ! 
 For then in quiet rest I should have slept 
 With kings and nobles of the earth, entombed 
 Within their lonely sepulchres of pride ; 
 With princes who have rioted in gold, 
 And silvered o'er their palaces for nought ; 
 Then as a hidden and untimely birth, 
 I should have been a stranger to the light ; 
 There undisturbed I should have found repose, 
 Where from their troubling deeds the wicked cease, 
 And weary mortals are for e'er at rest ; 
 Where captives chainless welcome freedom's peace, 
 
NIAGARA. 73 
 
 Deaf to the mandates of oppression's voice ; 
 
 Where all in equal fate together meet, 
 
 The great and small, the master and the slave, 
 
 The learned and rude, the freer and the freed. 
 
 Ah ! why is death denied me ? Why is light 
 
 Poured plenteously around my path of wo, 
 
 But to reveal its hideous forms to me, 
 
 And bring the monsters of the past to life ? 
 
 Why on the bitter soul is breath bestowed, 
 
 That longs for death as thirsty lips for brooks, 
 
 Or misers delving earth for treasures hid ? 
 
 How blest a refuge seems the grave's low cell ! 
 
 How sweet its darkness to my soul akin ! 
 
 How enviable they who slumber there ! 
 
 But no ! are there not found beyond its gate 
 
 Severer woes than man may suffer here ? 
 
 O Immortality ! what to the soul 
 
 Of sin art thou but double death itself? 
 
 With thee we meet the records of our guilt, 
 
 That daze our vision with accusing page ! 
 
 The murdered form, the heart we once betrayed, 
 
 The law we fractured, and the God we shunned, 
 
 A thousand fingers of damnation point 
 
 At each lost soul, and pierce it with their shafts, 
 
 With uttered curses on its wretched life. 
 
 All these on earth are hidden oft from view 
 
 In their reality, or only come 
 
 In apprehension's grasp 'mid future scenes, 
 
 Or else in memory's retrospect displayed, 
 
74 NIAGARA. 
 
 And this 'mid all our torment seems relief; 
 
 But there, in that futurity so sure, 
 
 So true, oh ! there our gathered misery rolls 
 
 Its wrecks upon us with eternal waves ! 
 
 Upon my breast, like Atlas, I uphold 
 
 A world of wo, replete with countless sighs ; 
 
 And like the roar of waters, that repeat 
 
 My words, the anguish of my soul resounds ! 
 
 Alas ! the doom that in the visioned night, 
 
 By spirit-oracles proclaimed to me, 
 
 Made my flesh quiver with excess of fear, 
 
 Is resting on me now with grappling might ! 
 
 Night ! O Darkness ! O dread Cataract ! 
 Be not amazed that I do love you so ; 
 
 For in your gloom and ever-groaning life, 
 
 1 find of mine own self the counterpart ! 
 
 In your lone home and in your dark embrace, 
 I know society that man gives not, 
 And sympathy of being elsewhere fled. 
 
 Sun ! O Morning ! O refulgent Noon ! 
 Be not amazed that I do hate you so ; 
 For in your light and images of life, 
 
 1 find the dreaded tokens of my guilt. 
 
 They come ! they come ! those heralds of the Past ! 
 
 Still trumpeting their message in mine ear, 
 
 And holding up a mirror to my mind, 
 
 Where I behold reflected all the train 
 
 That o'er my soul their inquisition hold ; 
 
 Ha ! there I stood in academic halls, 
 
NIAGARA. 75 
 
 A new probationer for Learning's meed, 
 
 'Mid many rivals in the hot-brained strife. 
 
 Why was I there ? Was it that Fame's shrill voice 
 
 Had trumpeted her summons to my soul, 
 
 Or that the chimes of Wisdom thrilled its depths ? 
 
 Oh no ! I thirsted not for draughts of praise, 
 
 Nor loved scholastic shades and thoughtful heights ! 
 
 Far sweeter to my soul was that blest power 
 
 Which poured its music from the one I loved, 
 
 One who had bade me win for her the boon 
 
 Of highest worth from academic hands, 
 
 The trophy of my mental might to be 
 
 The token of my faith, the price of love ! 
 
 Oh Star of hope ! what spirit e'er could fail 
 
 To reach that goal when lighted by thy ray ? 
 
 Yet thou wert not so beautiful, if all 
 
 Of earthly beauty be the matchless shapes 
 
 Of sculptured forms or painter's ideal touch ; 
 
 But if it be a spirit robed in light, 
 
 And born of love with gentleness of mien, 
 
 Then thou, Irene, wert beauty's self indeed. 
 
 Thy cheek owned not the deep carnation-hue 
 
 Of the queen-flower enthroned 'mid courtier-leaves, 
 
 And well-armed thorns that form her body-guard, 
 
 But the sweet paleness of the twilight sky, 
 
 Just as the dawn brings pencilings of day, 
 
 And ere it blushes into morning's prime. 
 
 More like the modest lily of the vale, 
 
 That peeps ofttimes in spring from its late snows, 
 
76 NIAGARA. 
 
 Hid 'neath the shadow of its own broad leaves, 
 Thou wert to me in sweet retiring grace. 
 Oft have I seen thee in the moonlight stand, 
 With face still paler than her crescent brow, 
 And looking upwards to that virgin orb, 
 Until she seemed to blush with wounded pride, 
 That one outrivaling her in whiteness shone, 
 So fair the hue that clothed thy cheek and lip, 
 That wore the pensiveness of starlit skies. 
 Thus a pure cast of thought was on thy brow, 
 That told deep feeling in thy gentle heart. 
 Beneath that brow thy tender eyelids fell, 
 Softly as snow-flakes through the frozen air, 
 O'er eyes in liquid lustre floating round 
 Like petals bathed in lily-cups of dew ; 
 And in their beauteous depths the noon and night 
 Seemed in unending friendship to have leagued, 
 So clear the light, so deep the shade there blent, 
 Where Love alone could find a welcome home ! 
 How from those ebon orbs bright flashes glanced, 
 Whose gleamings tremulously shone on all, 
 Not like the scintillations of the cloud, 
 By flint-like thunders struck with lightning's steel 
 O'er skies electric, but like summer-heats, 
 That glisten softly in the evening air ! 
 Around thy presence dwelt enchanting light, 
 That from its centre scattered rays afar, 
 Like daylight's counterfeit at night uprisen 
 In the Aurora's pencilings, that paint 
 
NIAGARA. 77 
 
 And warm with rubric touch the north's ice-star. 
 Thy locks were such as earth's own brow displays, 
 Whene'er the mournful artist of the year 
 Paints her green trees with rich autumnal brown ; 
 Thy footsteps fell on earth like loosened leaves 
 That chase each other through the forest walks, 
 Whene'er the voice of breezes bids them fly ; 
 And not the Nautilus in its fragile bark, 
 Sailed o'er the waters with a lighter grace, 
 Than moved thy virgin form 'mid sylvan shapes. 
 Thy voice was gentle as the whisperings soft 
 Of hollow shells, that to the listening ear 
 Repeat the treasured murmur of the sea. 
 
 " Did I not love her, aye indeed adore ? 
 
 Nay, love, adore, are words of common hearts, 
 
 That shame th' emotions of my gushing soul. 
 
 I, to receive her love in sweet return, 
 
 To grasp the fire-light in the radiant heaven 
 
 Of her dark-beaming eye, and call it mine, 
 
 Would, like Prometheus, have been chained to rocks, 
 
 And joyed that vultures on my vitals fed ; 
 
 Or like a galley-slave at oars of toil, 
 
 Would willingly have tugged my life away ; 
 
 For her I would have scaled the brow of Alp, 
 
 And hurled his icy helmet to his feet, 
 
 E'en though his glacier-touch had chilled my heart ; 
 
 I would have climbed Vesuvius and looked down 
 
 Into its hell of lava, nay, have sought 
 
78 NIAGARA. 
 
 Its depths, could I but then her being claim. 
 
 Oh ! there was no achievement vast and grand, 
 
 For which I was not armed and energized 
 
 With stern resolve to be the victor bold, 
 
 Had she but named the deed for her own sake ! 
 
 I would have found the Pole's magnetic point, 
 
 That draws the needle as her soul drew mine ; 
 
 Traversed Sahara, draughtless and alone, 
 
 Pierced the deep jungle to affright its beasts, 
 
 And braved the lion in his very lair, 
 
 With weapons none save my own stalwart arms ; 
 
 Belted the Ocean with my vessel's wake, 
 
 To lay earth's treasures at her blessed feet, 
 
 Or sought its depths, with panting breast, to find 
 
 The brightest pearls to deck her lily-brow ; 
 
 All this, aye more I would have wrought in hope, 
 
 Had she but smiled on me in fullest love ! 
 
 It was not strange that then her mild request 
 
 Seemed but a shadow to be cast by me, 
 
 Along her sunlit path, so light the task 
 
 That she had made the guerdon of her hand. 
 
 Oh ! she was life itself to me, the all 
 
 Of hope and joy, the pole-star in my heaven ! 
 
 And ever in my heart and memory dwelt 
 
 Her image, till a part of my own self 
 
 She seemed, bound with the fibres of my soul ; 
 
 And by her ideal presence she became 
 
 My muse of song, that filled my brain with light 
 
 And images of beauty, for she gave 
 
NIAGARA. 79 
 
 To me the wings of free poetic thought, 
 And the full mastery of melodious rhyme ; 
 Full many were the lays I sang to her 
 With the deep rapture of my passionate soul, 
 That found no peace save in such strains of love. 
 
 " But there were bars like iron to my hope, 
 
 And gates like brass that closed upon my heart ; 
 
 Another breathed the same sweet air with me, 
 
 And drank like raptures from that magic cup ; 
 
 In equal love to her with mine he strove 
 
 In equal strife with me to win her heart. 
 
 In childhood we were playmates full of glee, 
 
 In boyhood, friends identified in soul ; 
 
 He was the cynosure of hopeful eyes, 
 
 That looked on greatness in its infancy, 
 
 And saw the Future crowning him with bays ; 
 
 For ever as the morning came, or fell 
 
 The evening twilight at his door, he oped 
 
 The treasuries of Truth and made them his. 
 
 Oh ! it was beautiful indeed to see 
 
 His thoughtful brow hang o'er th' instructive page ; 
 
 And seldom, save when I with boastings came 
 
 To taunt him roughly for his vain idlesse, 
 
 And drag him willess to the play-ground's strife, 
 
 Would he desert the lore he loved so well ; 
 
 For I, the bold antithesis to him, 
 
 Found joy alone to revel in the sport ; 
 
 Yet when he brought his spirit to the task, 
 
80 NIAGARA . 
 
 No foot more fleet, no hand more sure than his, 
 
 Was seen 'mid all that boyish crowd ; e'en me 
 
 He vanquished, one who in his absence rose 
 
 The master-spirit and th' ascendant star ! 
 
 And as in triumph he would seek again 
 
 His lonely nook to dig historic ore, 
 
 Our hearts went out to him with youthful love, 
 
 He was too noble to be envied, e'er 
 
 Too kind for hatred, none but could admire. 
 
 Yet he to me but no, not he 'twas I 
 
 To him became the bitterest foe on earth, 
 
 Though my wild passion shrouded in my soul, 
 
 Lay imperceptible 'neath friendship's guise. 
 
 For he too sought the goal in rival love, 
 
 To which with eager hope I strained my heart. 
 
 " That one beloved how curiously she strove 
 To hide the tumults of her breast besieged, 
 And check the ardor of our vagrant thoughts! 
 How skillfully she kept us each at bay, 
 Nor told by word or look which was preferred ! 
 'Twas not in girlish folly that she played 
 With our fond hopes, as errant boys with hook 
 And line play with the captive trout, oh no ! 
 'Twas in her woman's pride, she longed to be 
 Participant of greatness, or to form 
 The manly spirit into glorious shapes, 
 Or*else to deal in sweet benevolence 
 With those she pitied, though perhaps not loved. 
 
NIAGARA. 81 
 
 So did she tell him too, that studious boy, 
 To join with me in this all-hopeful race, 
 To win the prize and her ; or not, love all ! 
 To each she vowed that whichsoever won 
 The circlet of applause, should have her heart, 
 Said not that either or that both she loved, 
 But seemed her smiles and favors to divide 
 With an impartial feeling shown to each, 
 While her true heart in unlocked caskets lay. 
 
 " Was it not folly ? Did it not then seem 
 Th' excess of madness to essay the task, 
 With such a strong competitor as he ? 
 I recked not, cherished not the hopeless thought, 
 But for the toilsome war did buckle on 
 The armor of the mind to win or die ! 
 Oh ! 'twas a contest deep, and fierce, and strong, 
 Into whose breach I threw myself entire, 
 And saw no end but victory itself! 
 True, he th' aspirant for the same proud height, 
 Had mounted midway to the destined point ; 
 Yet this but girded me with mightier power, 
 And made me near his feet and tread his heel, 
 Until I struggled with him side by side ! 
 Then what a new-found life I breathed ; what hope 
 Illumed my soul, that strove to pass him by ; 
 But he, like me, was eager for the goal, 
 And kept me ever hand to hand with him ! 
 Still would I nerve my spirit to the task, ; 
 
 5 
 
82 NIAGARA. 
 
 Whene'er it drooped, or seemed to let him gain. 
 What midnight hours went sleepless by for me ! 
 What morning radiance shone upon my page ! 
 What vigor seemed through all my nature spread ! 
 What tireless efforts strained my burning brain ! 
 
 " The goal ! the goal ! at last its point was reached ! 
 By both at once its long-sought line was trod ; 
 Two victors claiming now a single prize, 
 Panted before the umpires of the strife ! 
 What said they then ? It was by all declared 
 That each had nobly toiled and nobly won, 
 And they would leave it to our horoscopes 
 To tell which victor should possess the prize, 
 That could not doubled or divided be. 
 
 " O blest decision, yet O cursed one ! 
 
 Blest, since it strengthened hope once more to strive, 
 
 Curst, since it left my towering will undone ! 
 
 How did my quivering heart then wildly rave 
 
 In supplications to the power of Fate ! 
 
 I bade the stars look kindly on my lot, 
 
 And prayed that Heaven would bless my destiny ! 
 
 The die was cast but oh ye hell-born sprites, 
 
 Your fingers turned it to destroy my hope ! 
 
 'Twas lost ! 'twas lost ! and joy within me died ! 
 
 " How like the music of angelic strings 
 To the base ears of demons, came to rne 
 
NIAGARA. 83 
 
 The murmur of delight that rose from hearts 
 
 Filled with affection for the victor there ! 
 
 All loved him well for his sweet gentle mien, 
 
 But me they hated for my boldness rude. 
 
 What envious malice filled my bosom then ! 
 
 I broke away from that soul-crushing scene, 
 
 Impelled to drown my misery in the tide ! 
 
 But fell Revenge then fired my hellish soul 
 
 With thoughts of murder, not of suicide. 
 
 That night a spirit, e'en as though 'twere sent 
 
 From Hell's deep shades, sat on my trembling heart, 
 
 Heavy it sat with undistinguished form ; 
 
 And with some weapon sharp it pierced my flesh, 
 
 And opened in my breast a fissure deep; 
 
 Loudly it laughed as in its fiendish glee, 
 
 And slowly downwards in my bosom sank 
 
 Through the rent opening which its hand had made ; 
 
 Then passed an unseen finger o'er the wound, 
 
 And healed it up, while spake a solemn voice, 
 
 As if it came from halls of deepest gloom : 
 
 " ' Idolater ! thou'rt doomed ! the penal hour 
 For thy transgression hurries on its way ; 
 Since all thy power and love to earth were given, 
 And none to Heaven, to which they all belonged. 
 Earth shall behold the anguish of thy soul, 
 And take the loved and lovely to her arms ; 
 The idol of thy hopes, whom thou hast lost, 
 The rival of thy love, thou shall destroy ; 
 
84 NIAGARA. 
 
 Yes, by thy hand and word they both shall fall ! 
 
 He, that he gave not glory to his God, 
 
 She, that her artifice deceived thy heart, 
 
 Thou, thou destroyer as their victim wert ; 
 
 Thus in thy deed is Heaven still justified, 
 
 And thus vindictive Justice visits all ! 
 
 Thy work is told, Idolater, be true ! 
 
 The Spirit in thy breast, sent there to dwell, 
 
 Is the dark fiend of hate whose arm is death ! 
 
 Like a poor slave thy soul he now must scourge, 
 
 And nerve thine arm with his destroying power ! 
 
 Haste, wretch ! and ere the morrow's light shall rise 
 
 And fall again, be all thy mission done, 
 
 Thy doom self-sealed, thy wretchedness ensured!' 
 
 " Blest light of morning ! never didst thou smile 
 
 On dungeoned captives sweeter than on me, 
 
 When passed away the gloom of that dread night ! 
 
 Never did prisoner doomed to deafh, rejoice 
 
 With deeper gladness at a slight reprieve, 
 
 Than joyed my heart to see thy loving face ! 
 
 'Twas o'er ! a dream, a bastard of the brain, 
 
 A thing of mockery, a shape unreal, 
 
 A throneless tyrant 'twas aye, but a dream ! 
 
 Yet did its memory live to waken fear, 
 
 And make my soul a battle-field of wo, 
 
 As with a master-hand I crushed the thoughts 
 
 That in me once had birth to wreak revenge, 
 
 And swore by all that Heaven or earth deems blest, 
 
NIAGARA. 85 
 
 Never to meet the objects of my wo, 
 
 Nor let occasion come for desperate crime. 
 
 But lo ! while in umbrageous walks I roamed 
 
 With thoughts like these, meridian moments passed, 
 
 A scene, to me of horror, yet in truth 
 
 Of love and loveliness to loving hearts, 
 
 Oped on my vision entering in my soul ! 
 
 There, in that lonely nook, the blest retreat 
 
 Of boyhood's days, where conned he books of thought, 
 
 Sat in full bliss my hated enemy ! 
 
 And by him one whose heart seemed only his, 
 
 As on her bosom hung her shaded brow, 
 
 And round her form his arm was gently twined ; 
 
 Sweet words she whispered to his raptured ear, 
 
 When shown in pride the tokens of success. 
 
 I heard her tell him that from earliest hour, 
 
 He to her spirit was alone endeared, 
 
 And that she kept the secret treasure hid, 
 
 Lest known to him his strife might be relaxed, 
 
 And thus he lose her by another won ; 
 
 That me she pitied only while she named 
 
 The toilsome task that kept me still at bay, 
 
 Or left my soul un wounded for a time. 
 
 She had not thought that I could rival him, 
 
 Or gain the prize she wished to see him wear ! 
 
 And he with fond endearments, blessed her then 
 
 For the sweet love she had in silence stored. 
 
 They parted, she turned homeward, he to sport 
 
 In the cool waters by familiar banks. 
 
86 NIAGARA. 
 
 Oh ! then I felt the damning demon rise 
 
 Within my bosom, and assume his reign ! 
 
 Did I not battle fiercely with his power ? 
 
 Aye ! but in vain, his might o'ermastered mine ; 
 
 Unseen I crept at distance from my foe, 
 
 Disrobed my form and softly cleaved the stream 
 
 Beneath its surface, till I saw his back 
 
 In the dim tide turned towards my onward course ; 
 
 I caught his arms and pinioned them behind, 
 
 Then firmly held him struggling 'neath the wave, 
 
 And while within my grasp, O, I could see 
 
 The gurglings of his breath in bubbles rise ! 
 
 Thank Heaven ! I heard no groan escape his lips, 
 
 I did not see his staring eye of death, 
 
 Else had they driven to my soul a spear, 
 
 Whose barbed point had rankled in its life 
 
 With keener pangs than those I now endure 
 
 From myriad arrows of despairing guilt ! 
 
 I did not think that human eyes might see, 
 
 Nor that Omniscience with his glance could scan 
 
 The fratricidal deed ; so blind my hate, 
 
 So damned the spirit that within me raved ! 
 
 I dragged him lifeless to the pebbly bank, 
 
 And left him lying midway in the stream, 
 
 Then homeward turned to gloat upon my crime ! 
 
 Now, now I thought me, 1 may win his bride, 
 
 And own the heart thus coveted so long. 
 
 Scarce had I rested in my lonely room, 
 
 Ere from without I heard it bruited round, 
 
NIAGARA. 87 
 
 That he, the dead one, was discovered there, 
 
 By some who passed, a moment since, the spot ; 
 
 Oh ! how I rushed to learn if other eyes 
 
 Than mine had looked upon that deed ! But no ! 
 
 My bosom only kept the secret hid. 
 
 They went to bring the lifeless body home 
 
 I could not go they thought for sorest grief, 
 
 And therefore bade me as his fellow loved, 
 
 To tell the maiden of that sad event ! 
 
 Ha ! ha ! was it not strange ? The sunlight still 
 
 Lingered about her home when I went in. 
 
 Could I to her untremblingly announce 
 
 My own dark crime ? In truth, the Spirit here 
 
 Pent up within me, goaded me along ! 
 
 I found her singing in delightsome mood, 
 
 Forsooth with memories of the sweets just culled ; 
 
 I bade her listen, while a doubtful smile 
 
 Hung on her lips, but when she saw how grave 
 
 I looked upon her, then her paleness grew 
 
 Paler than snows on Chimborazo's broW ; 
 
 * Thy love is dead !' My message chilled her soul ! 
 
 For motionless she stood in voiceless wo, 
 
 Her blanched lip quivered and her eyeballs glared, 
 
 Her breast upheaved for utterance, and her frame 
 
 Shook with the terror of o'erburdened grief! 
 
 She stood one moment thus, that seemed an age, 
 
 More like a statue beautifully carved 
 
 From purest marble of Pentelicus, 
 
 Than a true shape of earth imbued with life ; 
 
88 NIAGARA. 
 
 Then on a sudden to her temples rushed 
 The heated blood that told a burning soul, 
 And from her lips disparted, one wild shriek 
 Rang through the portals of my heart most shrill, 
 That open left the floodgates of her heart, 
 Through which the tide of wo was thus outpoured : 
 
 " ' I saw thee, fiend, in dreams of yesternight, 
 Shaped like a serpent with its scales all green, 
 Curling thy form around his noble neck, 
 Till his sweet face with livid hues of Death, 
 Changed from its beauty into woful looks ; 
 Deep in his flesh thy venom teeth were driven, 
 Till their swift poison curdled through his blood ; 
 Then as he fell, thy hated hiss I heard, 
 And the dull discord of thy rattle sprung, 
 As if thou wert thus laughing o'er his death. 
 Then thou didst come, as came thy sire of old 
 To Eden's bowers, with subtle words to woo 
 This heart of mine, as he won cheated Eve's. 
 Oh ! I had thought when morning's radiance came, 
 And poured its balm upon my quivering heart, 
 That 'twas a phantom only, born in sleep, 
 To end its torments with the waking hour, 
 And thanked the Father that its life was o'er? 
 But ah ! curst miscreant, thou hast given it birth, 
 And brought its sting to torture me again ; 
 In thy dark look the guilty tale I read, 
 For on thy brow the curse of death is writ ! 
 
NIAGARA. 89 
 
 Go! and the blight of exile be thy doom, 
 
 An everlasting wo oppress thy soul. 
 
 Thou art his murderer !' she shrieked and fell ! 
 
 Into these arms, these murderous arms she fell, 
 
 And breathed her being from her shivered heart ! 
 
 " I turned away, and then, true Heaven ! I saw 
 The sun just sinking with his blood-red disk, 
 And heard the echo of the night-dream sound ! 
 ' Wretch ! now in truth thy mission is all done, 
 Thy doom self-sealed, thy wretchedness ensured ! 
 Go thou and be a wanderer o'er earth, 
 A fugitive, a vagabond in life, 
 And bear that torturing spirit in thy breast, 
 Whose living strength shall kill thy future peace !' 
 
 " O Night of anguish following then that sun ! 
 
 Darkness dread, thou type of Hell's dark doom ! 
 What language e'er could tell thy horrors now ? 
 In thy dim realms fiends danced around my path, 
 Rent my sore flesh with sharpened claws of hate, 
 And reveled madly through my stiffened hair ; 
 Ten thousand hands closed round my quaking form, 
 With giant grasp, and lifted me aloft ; 
 
 Swift through the air they hurried me away, 
 Then hurled me headlong from on high, to fall 
 In circles terrible on shivered rocks ; 
 Often within the compass of a point, 
 
 1 felt myself compressed, then swelling out 
 
 5* 
 
90 NIAGARA. 
 
 To the dimensions vast of upper worlds ; 
 
 Down 'mid the Ocean with my form they sped, 
 
 And held me there for seeming ages long, 
 
 To gasp for breath, yet scarcely then to breathe ; 
 
 There, on through endless labyrinths they rushed, 
 
 Where caves terrific glowered upon my soul, 
 
 And fierce sea-monsters glared and growled in spite ; 
 
 Till, rising thence, they left the sea's domain, 
 
 And dragged me up the loftiest mountain-steeps, 
 
 There to endure perennial Winter's cold, 
 
 'Mid deepest beds of everlasting snows ! 
 
 Swift thence they bore me when it seemed that Time 
 
 Had swept his nameless cycles o'er those heights, 
 
 Far to the sun-burnt desert, through its sands 
 
 To wade for centuries oppressed with thirst, 
 
 With no green spot upon the arid wild, 
 
 Where springs and shades, whose life-renewing power 
 
 Might quench my lip, or cool my sun-charred feet, 
 
 Or re~st my fevered frame one moment's length.' 
 
 Then through the surface of the earth I seemed 
 
 Far downwards to be drawn with power unspent, 
 
 Through stubborn soils and still resisting rocks, 
 
 That tore my vitals and my frame apart, 
 
 Till in earth's centre they were all reformed, 
 
 And cast into a crucible, 'neath which 
 
 Unending fires blazed fiercely round and round. 
 
 Here rolled a mighty sea of molten gold, 
 
 Into whose currents ghastly giants hurled 
 
 Huge masses of the precious ore to melt, 
 
NIAGARA . 91 
 
 That as they fell amid the seething tide, 
 
 Sent myriad sparks, with glow and heat intense, 
 
 Shooting like stars that course the paths of Heaven. 
 
 'Mid this metallic sea I then seemed plunged, 
 
 And made to writhe in anguish undefined ; 
 
 By fiends down driven to unmeasured depths, 
 
 Burning I sank to struggle there in vain ; 
 
 Then after countless years, from that deep Hell 
 
 Swiftly transported to the Arctic zone 
 
 Oh ! horrors nameless of that dread extreme ! 
 
 They led me wandering wildly up and down 
 
 Its frozen sea, to brave fierce polar frosts, 
 
 To climb o'er icebergs crackling to their base, 
 
 Or sink beneath them 03 they toppled o'er ; 
 
 Thus on, through varied series of distress, 
 
 In endless torments of succession long ! 28 
 
 O Night of fears ! O Sleep of Hell's foretaste ! 
 
 How could the spirit or the flesh endure 
 
 The agonies that crowded on me then ? 
 
 Did I not hail the morning ? No ! I shrunk 
 
 From the first day-beam on my chamber wall, 
 
 For morning brought sad tidings of my deed, 
 
 With all its woful images of death. 
 
 Did they not come to hale me to the cell ? 
 
 No ! but to entreat my presence at the grave, 
 
 As a tried mourner, for an idle tale 
 
 They deemed the ravings of that prophe-girl, 
 
 And said he died from some spasmodic stroke. 
 
92 NIAGARA. 
 
 Ha ! ha I I went, I saw them both in death, 
 
 Hand clasped in hand and side by side reposed, 
 
 All decked with chaplets of sweet blooming flowers ! * r 
 
 Did I not tremble o'er my victims then ? 
 
 No ! the fell fiend with courage filled my soul ! 
 
 I saw them laid below, and is it true ? 
 
 Aye true, I cast the earth on them, when spoke 
 
 The voice ' ashes to ashes, dust to dust, 3 
 
 Oh ! that green sod closed all of life for me ! 
 
 Away ! my home deserted, o'er the earth I roamed, 
 
 Hither and yon where'er the dark fiend drove, 
 
 And thus for years have roamed, to pass each night, 
 
 When sleep comes o'er me, in these torturing dreams, 
 
 Or in a lingering wakefulness, as now, 
 
 Till morning brings the stories of the Past. 
 
 Here, here at last one little drop of rest 
 
 Falls on my parching soul to ease its thirst, 
 
 For in these sombre regions waked at night, 
 
 I seem to have a respite from my rack, 
 
 Filling my vision with stupendous forms, 
 
 That drive usurping images away, 
 
 And drowning voices, full of thrilling notes-, 
 
 In the deep echoes of the falling tide. 
 
 But ho ! the midnight fails me, and the morn 
 
 Scatters his radiant seed o'er fields of space ; 
 
 Alas ! the sun comes up, and brings again 
 
 Those shapes of piercing agony to me ; 
 
 1 see them all the strife, the prize, the lot, 
 
 The wood, the stream, the bank, the dead, the grave ? 
 
NIAGARA. 93 
 
 Oh ! misery unending, shall mine be 
 
 In yon futurity a darker lot ? 
 
 What if I add to twofold murder now 
 
 The guilt of suicide ? Will it enhance 
 
 The anguish of my soul ? It scarce can be f 
 
 For now it seems as if th' eternal Mind 
 
 Could not devise worse torments for the damned, 
 
 In other worlds, than those I now endure. 
 
 Yet hath he not resources infinite 
 
 Wherewith to chain the spirit down in Hell ? 
 
 Ah ! when I've grown familiar with my pain, 
 
 And almost hugged my tortures to my heart, 
 
 With love for them which habit generates, 
 
 Have I not found a new-born torture sweep 
 
 Its painful fingers o'er my heart's strained chords ? 
 
 Is not the soul with such capacity 
 
 Endowed, of full extent, as makes it fit 
 
 To bear the most o'erwhelming miseries, 
 
 Uncrushed and unannihilated still, 
 
 Such as we dream not of nor tongue can speak 1 
 
 Aye ! we shall find it thus in future worlds ! 
 
 Yet seek I death despite its coming ills. 
 
 Oft has the fiend with curses urged me on, 
 
 To cease my being in yon angry tide, 
 
 But dark forebodings make me linger yet ', 
 
 E'en now he whispers in mine ear the hope 
 
 ' 'Twill be, at least, a change from state to state, 
 
 That of itself may bring a moment's ease, 
 
 While thou, curst sufferer, mak'st thy passage hence, 
 
94 NIAGARA. 
 
 E'en though thou passest to severer wo.' 
 I grasp the hope, though like a spider's web, 
 And scorning life, explore the dark unknown ; 
 Hence Earth ! come Hell ! I woo this dread abyss !" 
 
 Gone ! fated man, thou Hermit of the Fall ! 
 Lost in the eddies of thy chosen home ; 
 Gone to the future with remorseful soul, 
 To live forever in the halls of pain ! 
 Thou'st shared the meed of thine idolatry, 
 And meet'st the penalty of murderous hands ! 
 
 Thus doomed are all that love thee not, O God ! 
 Thus wretched they who make the world their hope ! 
 
 Yet lonely man ! not such for aught we know 
 
 Was thy mysterious life ; nor e'en thy death 
 
 Welcomed so fearfully. The Poet dreamed 
 
 These thoughts of thee, and from them weaved a tale, 
 
 Instead of one thy silence left untold, 
 
 To warn th' unwary from the paths of crime. 
 
 Thine only sin, learned from thy sojourn here, 
 
 Was fleeing from the fellowship of man, 
 
 And hiding gifts that might have blessed his heart. 
 
 O wondrous Water-course ! O Torrent swift ! 
 
 Thy leap like his down those dread depths makes thee 
 
 A suicide perpetual, yet alive, 
 
 A self destroyer, self-rebuilder both ! 
 
NIAGARA. 95 
 
 How beauteously dost thou display the love 
 
 And might of Him who laid his own life down, 
 
 And took it up again, by inward right ; 
 
 Whose death was life, whose form when disinterred, 
 
 Shone with effulgence far surprassing thine ! 
 
 Oh ! when upon that orient hill of blood, 
 
 The One, anointed with the ire of Heaven, 
 
 To be for man an interceding Priest, 
 
 Poured out his soul in groanings more heart-felt, 
 
 His life in purer currents far than thine, 
 
 Didst thou not hear his filial cry of wo, 
 
 That spoke abandonment in every tone, 
 
 And to the world repeat the direful tale ? 
 
 Didst thou not gather from the veins of earth, 
 
 A few blest drops of that o'erflowing tide, 
 
 Wherewith to wash thy brow looked on by sin ? 
 
 Or else didst thou not also weep in love, 
 
 With sympathy for Him, that Heart divine, 
 
 Who wept in love and sympathy for man ? 
 
 O great Apostle ! tell us how he bled, 
 
 Tell how he agonized in death's extreme, 
 
 And yet forgave the plunderers of His life ! 
 
 Tell how the chasmed earth gaped wide its mouth, 
 
 And groaned despair with sickened heart for Him, 
 
 Disgorging from her entrails sainted forms, 
 
 That walked her breast the spectres of an hour, 
 
 And welcomed in their grave's habiliments 
 
 Sad-hearted friends, that sorrowed then in fright : 
 
 Didst thou not mingle with her deep-drawn sigh, 
 
96 NIAGARA. 
 
 The doleful wailings of thy hollow chest, 
 
 Telling Creation how o'erfull of grief 
 
 Were all material things, that only thus, 
 
 Man might renew his spiritual strength ; 
 
 And when that Life divine leaped o'er the verge 
 
 Of Death and Hell, and from their deepest tide, 
 
 (Jnwhelmed, unsepulchred, and incorrupt, 
 
 Arose victorious o'er the grave and sin, 
 
 Did not thy music then repeat the strains 
 
 Of choirs angelic with their anthemed praise, 
 
 As passing up and down from heaven to earth, 
 
 And earth to heaven, they joyfully proclaimed 
 
 To myriad spirits, eager for the tale, 
 
 The work completed and redemption won ? 
 
 Or didst thou not in Hell's dark dungeon hear 
 
 The deep hoarse bellowings of demons damned, 
 
 That grated grievously upon thine ear ? 
 
 Demons, that tossing with malignant spite, 
 
 Because man thus might flee their endless doom, 
 
 Or groaning in despair that they were bound 
 
 In everlasting chains for judgment held, 
 
 With no redeeming gate for them to pass, 
 
 Sought to exclude him by temptation's might 
 
 From the sweet fellowship of spirits pure. 
 
 Oh ! what unnumbered scenes both blest and curst, 
 
 What voices unrepeated save by thee, 
 
 Hast thou, old Wanderer, ofttimes viewed and heard ! 
 
 How full of privilege thy years have passed, 
 
 How full of anguish has thy heart been filled ! 
 
 
NIAGARA. 97 
 
 Thus art thou typical of man's strange life, 
 Replete with light and shade, with joy and grief. 
 
 Prophet of good, what tidings glad are thine ! 
 
 Like a blest angel, to the shepherds sent 
 
 With song of " Peace on earth, good- will to men !" 
 
 Or the Baptizer clothed with camel's hair, 
 
 And fed on honey in the wilderness, 
 
 Dost thou lift up thy herald voice to man, 
 
 And tell'st the nations of the Day-star's rise, 
 
 Whose hopeful beams in visitings to earth, 
 
 Announce the advent of immortal joys, 
 
 And warm the spirit sepulchred in sin ! 
 
 Cry, Voice of blessing ! bid the world prepare 
 
 The ways of God and make His paths all straight, 
 
 For yonder comes the Lamb that takes away, 
 
 With mercy-flowing blood, the sin of souls ! 
 
 How sweetly to the stainless conscience shines 
 
 The morn's new light, uprising as from death ! 
 
 The heart and life that own a holy God, 
 
 Need not the darkness to conceal their ways ; 
 
 Now like a maiden's fingers tracing lines 
 
 Of gorgeous hues upon the lily page, 
 
 Or stringing threads of rich embroidery 
 
 Upon the silver canvas in her lap, 
 
 Comes up the dawn with garb of light arrayed ; 
 
 O'er the soft sky her pencil gently moves, 
 
 Paints smiles of day where gloomed the cloud's dark frown, 
 
 
98 NIAGARA . 
 
 And drinks fresh dew-drops from the cups of flowers. 
 
 All Nature's home to her a studio seems, 
 
 Where mixing colors in assortment gay, 
 
 She fills the groundwork of Creation's frame, 
 
 With the lost fragrance of the former days, 
 
 As painter-hands with freshening colors limn, 
 
 In soft re-touchings, some old portrait-face, 
 
 Until the faded features all appear 
 
 A picture new with lineaments of life, 
 
 That bring the memory of departed looks. 
 
 How like a lion with his shaggy main, 
 
 Leaving his lair and shaking off its damps, 
 
 The Sun comes forth ! He seems in pride to plant 
 
 His mighty paw upon the edge of earth, 
 
 And leap in strength along his skyey home, 
 
 Thence to descend, hurrying in hungry haste 
 
 To close his burning claws upon his prey. 
 
 Sprinkled like sands of gold in southern streams, 
 
 The parted beams as children at their play, 
 
 Peep through the interstices of the leaves ; 
 
 While o'er the flood the full broad rays descend, 
 
 And move like dancers on a gilded floor, 
 
 As from the orchestra of waters rise 
 
 The strains to which their twinkling feet keep time. 
 
 Such, like the earth new-lighted, is the world 
 Of human hearts, when Genius' hallowed fire 
 Brightens our hopes with sentimenls of love. 
 
NIAGARA. 99 
 
 How like the rise of Genius is the day 
 
 That moves untrammelled through the dusk of night, 
 
 Nor loses aught of radiance from its touch ! 
 
 Oh ! is there not unconquered might in mind, 
 
 In gifted mind, to whom the task is given 
 
 To grasp the light of Heaven and make it man's ? 
 
 Is there not certain triumph to its toils, 
 
 A meed of glory for its spirit scathed, 
 
 A zenith-home where it may ever shine, 
 
 A voice of plaudit for its mission done, 
 
 Its holy mission, full of truth and love ? 
 
 Genius ! hast thou that sacred talisman, 
 The secret proof of greatness yet untold, 
 The blest refractions of the spirit's light 
 Through this dim atmosphere of life, that shines 
 Ere yet its sun has reached th' horizon's bound ? 
 Oh ! keep it guarded well, yet keep it hid, 
 Lock it within the casket of thy soul, 
 Nor let its light in straggling rays be seen, 
 But feed the lamp in secret with the oil 
 Of truth and love, of faith and hope, till men 
 Shall need its warmth, then lift the darkening veil, 
 And beam on men, a man, a godlike man ! 
 
 E'en though thy struggling heart shall tell thee oft 
 
 That thou wert only made for lofty things, 
 
 For truth and freedom, not alone for fame, 
 
 Nor earth's enticements 'mid her grovelling shapes, 
 
100 NIAGARA. 
 
 Yet hush thy lip, chain down thine anxious pulse, 
 
 And drink unbowed the dregs of common life, 
 
 Until thy power hath grown to manhood's strength ; 
 
 Bring not thy candle forth, whose beams the blaze 
 
 Of some strong spirit's noon-day light shall pale, 
 
 Nor when the damps of earthly gain surround 
 
 All human hearts, to chill thy soul and quench 
 
 Its rapturous fire; nor when the stormy rage 
 
 Of passion sweeps the bloom of life away ; 
 
 But in the deep hushed darkness of the world, 
 
 When suns have set and stars are hid, when hearts 
 
 Begin to yearn for truth, for love, for hope, 
 
 For liberty ; when strong thy light hath grown, 
 
 Oh ! let it burst effulgent on the souls 
 
 Of men, and wake them up from sleep to see 
 
 A new day dawning for the deathless mind ! 
 
 Hope on ! if God hath made thee inward great, 
 
 Thine outward lot most surely he will shape, 
 
 And thou shalt have a goodly heritage 
 
 As thine amid the garden-homes of life. 
 
 Though now strong hands of Poverty and Hate 
 
 Erect their rocky fortress at thy side, 
 
 Though Care's fierce myrmidons press hard behind, 
 
 And deepest seas of trouble roll before, 
 
 Yet faint thou not, God made thee to be great ! 
 
 When first Creation, in majestic might, 
 Marched to its station fixed in boundless space, 
 God said, " Let there be light, arid there was light," 
 
NIAGARA. 101 
 
 So shalt thou move in dignity of soul, 
 
 To hold the birthright of immortal mind. 
 
 And tread the way of Heaven with quenchless light, 
 
 Which God shall bring forth from thy burning heart. 
 
 Aye ! He will crush with hand omnipotent, 
 
 Those frowning battlements, and through the sea 
 
 Will cleave a pathway for thy feet, and ope 
 
 A channel for the currents of thy soul, 
 
 That crowd with such unnumbered hosts of thought, 
 
 While hellish foes, still following in thy steps, 
 
 Shall sink o'erwhelmed beneath thy rushing tide. 
 
 Say, in the midnight of thy hidden soul, 
 
 Come there not dawnings of the vivid day, 
 
 When each shall see thy gifted spirit robed, 
 
 In sentiments of Truth now unrevealed ? 
 
 When bitter thoughts break o'er thy burdened breast, 
 
 As roll the billows o'er the rocky beach, 
 
 Is there not still a bosom undefied ? 
 
 Hast thou not still the bold unconquered heart ? 
 
 Though friends may smile and turn away in scorn, 
 
 Call thee enthusiast at thy prophecies, 
 
 And bid thee plod with them their earthward course, 
 
 Foes may deride and madness call thy hope, 
 
 Yet still thy calm unbending will shall sway 
 
 Each power within, and give it strength to rise. 
 
 The stern resolve to battle with the worst, 
 
 To scorn the servitude of outward things, 
 
 To rise supreme with majesty of soul, 
 
102 NIAGARA. 
 
 Above the petty tide of human ills, 
 
 Will sit enthroned the ruler of the heart ! 
 
 Have faith in Truth ! believe, O soul of fire ! 
 That life's realities, be they of worlds 
 Which form Creation or receive its gaze, 
 Of things that live in yon eternal Mind, j 
 Or cluster here within the finite man, 
 Shall meet their destiny triumphant all, 
 And hear each shout their paean song of joy ! 
 
 Have faith in Freedom ! know full well, O heart ! 
 That the great God hath made his creatures free, 
 And none can change what he has thus decreed, 
 Though Time may threaten and the car move slow 
 That bears the traveller to his destined home. 
 Aye ! though man put his fetters on the wrist, 
 He cannot chain the indomitable will, 
 He cannot scourge the spirit, nor prevent 
 Its soarings upwards as on eagles' wings ; 
 He cannot make the free-born live the slave, 
 When death has given it life and unwalled homes 
 To dwell amid, in Freedom's future worlds ! 
 
 Have faith in Love ! know that the loving soul, 
 Though scarred and blasted by its fellows' shafts, 
 Shall stand at last beloved and crowned by earth, 
 Who then shall weep to view thy many wounds 
 Her hand unkind inflicted, when to bless 
 
NIAGARA. 103 
 
 Her children, thou didst bare thy dauntless breast, 
 And bore her strokes with fortitude unbowed. 
 Oh ! thou shalt have thy blessed meed of love 
 From every heart below that hears thy name, 
 And more than all from Love's own heart on high ! 
 
 Have faith in God ! believe His promise sure ; 
 
 His word is graven on thy prophet-soul, 
 
 Which tells thee that thy seeds of truth and hope, 
 
 Sown in the hearts of all, shall bear their fruit 
 
 Unnumbered as the stars or Ocean's sands. 
 
 Doth not all outward Nature that declares 
 
 His might and glory in the firmament, 
 
 And on the broad expanse of earth, display 
 
 To man His truth and faithfulness in all 
 
 The blest successions of her ordered steps ? 
 
 Nay more, doth she not in His word revealed, 
 
 Of all her life the correlation find ? 
 
 So learn, O soul, that in symmetric power, 
 
 Thou shalt move forth to glorify thy God, 
 
 And in His greatness magnify thyself! 
 
 Learn that ere long between thy heart and life, 
 
 And every sentiment and circumstance 
 
 Of inward being and of outward lot, 
 
 A correspondence true thou wilt perceive, 
 
 To show thee placed on worth's high pedestal, 
 
 And mark thy name a favored son of God ! 
 
 Herald of day ! again hast thou announced 
 
104 NIAGARA . 
 
 The birth of light, and rung the call to prayer, 
 
 As loud from Moslem minaret and mosque, 
 
 The lone muezzin flings his shrill-toned voice, 
 
 To tell the devotee 'tis time to kneel. 
 
 Here, blessed Teacher ! from my reverie roused, 
 
 I hear thy summons, and obey thy call 
 
 With purer faith, and heart more worshipful, 
 
 Than his who knows no God but self and sense. 
 
 In spirit and in truth I worship Him, 
 
 Who is the Spirit and the Life of all, 
 
 And thus address Him with o'erflowing soul : 
 
 " Father of love ! to me how much endeared, 
 Not for the blessings only on me showered, 
 Though these from me claim gratitude unspent, 
 But for the chastisements oft deemed severe, 
 Whereby my spirit hath been trained to good ; 
 Yet most of all for those bright views, revealed 
 To my dark soul, by Heaven's immortal light. 
 Oh ! hadst thou left me in the bitter gall, 
 And tyrant bonds of sin, hadst thou not snatched 
 My soul, a burning brand, from fires of Hell, 
 Hadst thou not hewn me from the rock of death, 
 And dug me from the pit of wo, while lost, 
 And sinning blindly oft against thy law ; 
 Hadst thou not lifted me from miry clay, 
 And placed my feet upon thy rock of strength, 
 I ne'er had roamed in pastures of thy love, 
 Nor slept on banks where Joy's still waters flow ; 
 
N I A G A. R A . 105 
 
 No! I had trod the pathway of the damned, 
 And found my spirit thralled in chains of grief. 
 Oh ! for that love which thus commends itself, 
 E'en though its objects all are meritless, 
 I praise thee, Lord of Heaven, with all my soul ! 
 Ye rocks and hills, ye sounding waterfalls, 
 Join in the chorus of my heart- felt praise ! 
 Praise Him, ye angels, ye celestial hosts ! 
 Praise Him, thou sun at morn, thou moon at eve ! 
 Ye stars of light, ye heavens of heavens above ! 
 Ye rolling clouds, that journey near his throne ! 
 Praise Him all earth, ye dragon-forms, ye deeps ! 
 Let fire and hail, let snow and vapor praise ! 
 Ye mountains, and all hills, ye fruitful trees ! 
 Ye verdant cedars, prowling beasts and herds ! 
 Ye creeping things, and birds of every wing ! 
 Kings of the earth ; ye who their subjects are ! 
 Princes and judges ; men of might and mind ! 
 Young men and maidens, children and old men ! 
 Praise ye the King of Kings whose name is Love ! 
 Praise Him upon the timbrel and the harp ! 
 Praise Him with sound of psaltery and trump, 
 With organ and with instruments of strings ! 
 Praise Him upon the cymbals sounding high ! 
 Praise Him the most with voices from the heart ! 28 
 Praise God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ! 
 Worthy is He, and ever to be praised. 
 For He is good, His mercy lives for aye, 
 Therefore my soul doth magnify the Lord, 
 
106 NIAGARA, 
 
 My spirit glories in my Saviour God f 
 
 He hath redeemed me from the grasp of Hell, 
 
 Prepared a bounteous table 'mid my foes, 
 
 Anointed me with joy, instead of grief; 
 
 For a sad spirit, gave me robes of praise ; 
 
 My cup to overflowing He has filled ; 
 
 His goodness and His mercy follow me, 
 
 And in His temple I may ever dwell : 
 
 He always watches o'er my troublous path, 
 
 My sleep defenceless, and my waking sweet ; 
 
 Canst thou not praise Him ? Oh ! behold His work, 
 
 Here wrought for man to typify Himself; 
 
 Hast thou no heart to love ? Oh ! see His love 
 
 In all Creation's and Redemption's plans, 
 
 And then love Him because he first loved you. 
 
 Great Father ! hear ; give now the unchanged heart, 
 
 Which beats beneath the eye that scans this page, 
 
 The changing influence of thy Spirit blest, 
 
 That it may know the adoration sweet, 
 
 Which fills thy child in thy loved presence bowed, 
 
 That it may feel the rapture which inspires 
 
 The humble soul to chant this hymn to thee." 
 
 The Sun is up ! his manhood's strength renewed ; 
 His zenith-home now occupied again ; 
 How swift his rays come vertically down ! 
 How hotly shoot his burning arrows now ! 
 The panting bird her leafy shelter seeks ; 
 The sweltering herds stand in the cooling tide, 
 
NIAGARA. 107 
 
 Beneath the arches of umbrageous rocks, 
 
 Or in the shadows of the clustering trees ; 
 
 The young grass droops, the wild flowers swooning fall, 
 
 All Nature faints in this o'erburdening heat. 
 
 Come, sacerdotal Flood ! lift up thy voice, 
 
 And at the altar of thy Deity, 
 
 Invoke His power to send His minion clouds, 
 
 And bring the tides, poured from thy hollow hand, 
 
 Back to the earth, and fill her fonts again ; 
 
 The Flood obeys, and calls upon his God : 
 
 " O Thou, who canst by Thine all-conquering might 
 
 Into deep stillness hush tumultuous waves, 
 
 Or bid the foaming billows higher roll ! 
 
 Thou, at whose word the morn and evening sing, 
 
 In their outgoings, of thy tokens blest ! 
 
 Thou who dost visit earth, that it may drink 
 
 The water of the rain of Heaven, and live 
 
 To spring with verdure and to yield its fruit ; 
 
 Thou who dost lave the ridges of the land, 
 
 And settlest all the furrows, making soft 
 
 The soil with showers until it starts in life ! 
 
 Thou who distillest early dews on earth, 
 
 And sendest snows to clothe the tender grain ! 
 
 Come with thy streams to wet the withered herb, 
 
 That earth, well-watered, may bring forth and bud, 
 
 To give the sower seed, the eater bread ; 
 
 Unseal thy fountains, at whose flowing tides 
 
 The thirsty lip may drink renewing life ; 
 
108 NIAGARA. 
 
 Pour from thy reservoirs, O God of Floods ! 
 Thy streams profuse, and make the vales rejoice, 
 Till pastures fertilized by thee shall bloom, 
 And hills look up with still more verdant crowns." 
 
 Thy prayer is answered, Interceder strong ! 
 For yonder come the heralds of the storm ; 
 The deep monotony of thunder rolls 
 Through far-off arches of the templed sky, 
 In echoes to thy voice, and say, " We come !" 
 The glistening lightnings seem to glass thy form 
 In their firm grasp, concentrating the light 
 Thou didst reflect in day-beams from their eye ; 
 The lower air now moves in blackened shapes, 
 That rise as if from furnaces of smoke ; 
 And down the showery cataracls descend 
 To swell thy waters O illustrious Flood ! 
 Earth drinks new life, and Nature breathes again ; 
 The flowers look up in tears of gratitude, 
 With opened mouths t' inhale the freshened breeze ; 
 The low grass bends beneath the rattling drops, 
 And with the winds in whispered laughter breathes. 
 How pure, how sweet, how fresh the moistened air ! 
 How new and beautiful each shape of life ! 
 How changed the scene in one short busy hour, 
 From grief to gladness, from decay to growth ! 
 Thus do the storms of disappointment keen. 
 And deep affliction purify the heart, 
 And vivify the over-heated soul, 
 
NIAGARA. 109 
 
 When like the earth, the flowers, the grass, the trees, 
 We meekly bend and bear their chastening strokes ; 
 For present sorrows but a moment live, 
 And leave behind an after-life of joy. 
 
 Poet of Nature f Minstrel of the floods ! 
 
 O mighty Bard ! how matchless is thy verse ! 
 
 What paeans full of triumph dost thou hymn ! 
 
 What magic lines of beauty dost thou trace 
 
 Here on th' undying tablet of my soul ! 
 
 How ever varied is the rhythm sweet 
 
 Of thine unceasing song ! The ripple oft 
 
 Astray along thy banks a lyric is 
 
 Of love ; the cool drops trickling down thy sides 
 
 Are gentle sonnets ; and thy lesser falls 
 
 Are strains elegiac, that sadly sound 
 
 A monody of grief; thy whirlpool fierce, 
 
 A shrill-toned battle-song ; thy river's rush 
 
 A strain heroic with its couplet-rhymes ; 
 
 Thy rocks and trees, thy floods and floating isles, 
 
 Thy caverns dark, a rich dramatic scene ; 
 
 While the full sweep of thy close-crowded tide 
 
 Resounds supreme o'er all, an epic grand, 
 
 Written in bold pentameters unrhymed ! 
 
 Oh ! that for human ears I might like thee 
 
 Pour forth a most enchanting tide of song ! 
 
 Thou rapt Musician I by thine own sweet song 
 Entranced so deeply, that all other strings 
 
 **' V 
 
110 NIAGARA. 
 
 Of earthly instruments by thee unheard, 
 Are vainly struck within the circle wide 
 Of thy rich voice, itself a melody ! 
 How tame to me are human symphonies, 
 When in mine ear thy concert-strains resound ! 
 How like some oratorio grand art thou, 
 Born of a gifted soul, and well performed 
 By gifted hand and voice, with varied parts 
 Of stately overture and prelude sweet, 
 Of soft duets, with solos, trios, chants, 
 And hallelujahs loud of chorus-bands, 
 That lift the ravfthed heart away from earth, 
 And lose it in forgetfulness of Time ! 
 
 Here from this Table-rock let me step down 29 
 The rough descent, and with a reverence meet, 
 Pass inward where a secret Presence dwells, 
 And penetrate his solitude's recess. 
 solemn Tabernacle of the Flood ! 
 This is the Holiest of thy holy place, 
 Where undisturbed, save by intruding man, 
 Who comes, Creation's priest, to minister 
 Within the veil before jthy sacred ark, 
 The God of floods his awful chamber fills ! 
 Spirit of life ! beneath me lay thine hand, 
 And stay my soul in this oppressive hour ! 
 My heart within its ribbed enth raiment swells, 
 In adoration, dread, and wonderment ; 
 With its repeated strokes it seems to drive 
 
NIAGARA. Ill 
 
 My 'frighted breath from out its bosom-cells ! 
 O thou creative Power ! on me breathe now, 
 And keep the fountain of my life supplied ! 
 Above, yon arch seems ever coming down, 
 Yon rock still moving, yet for aye unmoved, 
 Yon tide descending vertically, oft 
 To strike with death the sacrilegious head, 
 Yet curving grandly in unvarying course, 
 As if it were a giant's arm bent round 
 Its dwarfish subjects to protect their life ! 
 As when from Egypt's tyranny escaped 
 The sons of Israel, and through severed waves 
 Passed on in crowds unnumbered, to possess 
 The land of promise, flowing with earth's gifts, 
 While night and day led onward in their march 
 By clouds and fiery pillars from their God, 
 So do ye seem, ye ever-journeying floods ! 
 
 Dread Genius of the Fall ! whose towering form 
 Dwells in this rocky fortress, still unsealed, 
 Never to fall before besieging foes, 
 Save when Creation shall itself decay ; 
 How like the Nazarite, with locks unshorn, 
 And heavenly strength still inexhaustible, 
 Above thee dost thou stretch thy lusty arms, 
 And hold the flood-gates of thy currents up, 
 As he, with might unparalleled in man, 
 Upon his back the gates of Gaza bore. 
 
llii NIAGARA. 
 
 Here in this area, 'twixt the flood and rock 7 
 
 I seem to stand in legislative halls 
 
 And senate chambers, where constituent fonts 
 
 Have by united suffrage hither sent 
 
 Their representatives from distant states ; 
 
 I hear the murmur of polemic strife, 
 
 The war of tongues that seek the mastery ; 
 
 And blended in confusion, see the looks- 
 
 And actions that in turn display too oft 
 
 Zeal hypocritic, or true patriot love ; 
 
 I mark the windings of politic art, 
 
 Th' unbending spirit of the statesman bold, 
 
 Or orator with eloquence of truth, 
 
 The varying movements of the partisan, 
 
 Th' obedience cringing of the sycophant. 
 
 Swarming the portals for the nation's spoils ; 
 
 All this I see in this apartment dim, 
 
 And hear in deafening torrents still unchecked, 
 
 Where unmoved rocks and changing eddies are, 
 
 Where countless drops and heavy tides crowd round. 
 
 O Hall of Wisdom ! what instruction here 
 May man receive to know himself and God ! 
 What lessons may be printed on his soul, 
 Like images of life on fossil' rocks ! 
 Endless thy teachings, O Preceptor, are I 
 Forth from thy lips, whose utterance ceases not, 
 Blest sentiments of truth and goodness sound ! 
 Oh ! in the tracings of thy fingers here, 
 
NIAGARA. 113 
 
 Graved on the rock as with an iron pen, 
 We read the language of Divinity ! 
 Who dares refuse the homage thou dost claim 
 From every heart to Him who built thy home ? 
 Or who may speak denial to thy words, 
 That tell in tones oracular, " GOD is ?" 
 
 Skeptic ! approach, with reverential awe, 
 And in this book of many pages read 
 The truthful lines recording Deity, 
 Till thou in fear shalt say, " THERE is A GOD !" 
 In answering echo to the Flood's discourse ; 
 Or else denying, prove thyself insane, 
 Earth's libel-form, humanity's disgrace ! 
 Tell me, as on this streaming rock we stand, 
 And look above at yon o'erhanging verge, 
 Who holds it up that it descendeth not ; 
 To crush us into atoms with its flood ? 
 Who stays those earth-bound waters back, whose mass 
 Presses with might on these uncrumbled walls, 
 Like steeds unbridled with confusion wild, 
 Rushing in hordes along some sandy plain ? 
 Who e'en as with his own unmeasured hand 
 Within the tide, now reaches down th' abyss, 
 As if he were, in his protecting love, 
 Encircling us with everlasting arms ? 
 Go ! if thou canst not own and worship Him, 
 And ostracize thyself from all the world, 
 Nor claim as thine the brotherhood of man ! 
 
 6* 
 
114 N I AGA K A . 
 
 Go ! for the rapt adorer of His name 
 Beholds His image blotted from thy soul, 
 If thou dost not in yonder tide perceive 
 That image glassed as shining out from thee ! 
 Hear, unbeliever ! hear the glorious hymn, 
 Whose cadence now from yonder praising Flood, 
 Thus rises upwards with its incense-mist : 
 
 " O mighty Architect of Nature's home ! 
 
 God of Creation, of the earth and sea, 
 
 Of stars that wane, the signals of the morn, 
 
 Of bird and beast and every living thing, 
 
 Of man and angel, thy most perfect works, 
 
 Displaying all thine ever-varied powers ! 
 
 Hear, thou great Master-builder of all life ! 
 
 I lift my voice in thankfulness to Thee ! 
 
 Of old, in Time's beginning, thou didst move 
 
 Upon the slumbering floods^, that then awoke 
 
 And left the arms paternal, and the home 
 
 Of Chaos dark, to flow at thy command, 
 
 And make their journey o'er the formless earth ; 
 
 Then thou, dread King ! didst stretch thy sceptre out, 
 
 And into being speak the orbless light ! 
 
 Didst weave, with stellar threads, the firmament 
 
 Of heaven, and made it separate the floods ; 
 
 With thy strong falchion thou didst cleave the rock, 
 
 And hew the pathway for my liquid feet. 
 
 Then first of all thy works, yea, ere was heard 
 
 The young stars' song in morning-prime of earth, 
 
NIAG-ARA. 115 
 
 I hailed thee Sovereign of the Universe, 
 
 And praised 'thy might, O thou most wondrous God ! 
 
 Then at each great achievement of thy hand, 
 
 I rolled my anthem up with louder voice ! 
 
 When earth bloomed freshly with the tender grass, 
 
 When herb and fruit from bud and flower were born, 
 
 I echoed thy deep voice that spake ' 'tis good !' 
 
 I saw the light hung round thy far-off throne, 
 
 As signs to measure out the day and night. 
 
 Full brightly shone their footsteps, as they moved 
 
 Each to its sphere, and left behind in space 
 
 Their lustrous trails, like countless threads of light. 
 
 On my unwearied vision long have smiled 
 
 Orion, named of old the scorpion's heart, 
 
 Arcturus, bending o'er the northern pole, 
 
 The Pleiades, whose unbound influence falls 
 
 With the sweet breathings of each waking spring, 
 
 That ne'er lament one from their circle flown. 30 
 
 The milky way, whose galaxy so bright, 
 
 Woven by stellar fingers from the sun, 
 
 Belts the wide sky e'en like the rainbow's curve, 
 
 And all the constellated worlds that sweep 
 
 In long battalions through yon camps of light ! 
 
 I have seen thee, O King ! before them pass, 
 
 Their great Commander, making thy review, 
 
 To number each and call them all by name, 
 
 While round thee moved a brilliant retinue, 
 
 In all the colors of th' Aurora's rays, 
 
 And from thy mouth a trumpet-blast was pealed, 
 
116 NIAGARA. 
 
 In the sharp echoes of the thunder's voice. 
 
 Then have I shouted hallelujahs loud, 
 
 In answer to the melody of spheres, 
 
 That measured well their simultaneous tread, 
 
 As armies march with their symphonious bands. 
 
 I saw the sun at earth's first morning rise, 
 
 E'en as a bridegroom from his chamber comes, 
 
 All redolent with love and beauty new, 
 
 And following in his steps, beheld his bride 
 
 Attended faithfully by maiden-stars, 
 
 Stand in his home with sweet adornments robed ; 
 
 I heard the voice of Nature animate, 
 
 In varied strains, repeat thy worthy praise ; 
 
 The song of birds at morn, at noon, at eve, 
 
 The cricket's chirp, the buzz of insect-wings, 
 
 The low of herds, the neigh of uncurbed steeds, 
 
 In one loud chorus mingling with my voice, 
 
 Went up to thee, thou Father of them all ! 
 
 Nor less harmonious was the voice of man, 
 
 Who in his purity then sang of thee 
 
 With gratitude unchecked for thy sweet gifts, 
 
 Of which, all blest, by far the most of all 
 
 Was woman's love and woman's sympathy ; 
 
 Alas ! that she, o'ercome by tempting art, 
 
 Should then have sinned, and made man share her wo ! 
 
 Happy for her that now she lives to be 
 
 A comforter to soothe the pain she caused ! 
 
 Vet, blest Preserver ! with the fall of man 
 
 Thou didst not change this my unvarying tide, 
 
NIAGARA. 117 
 
 But left me thus an emblem to his heart, 
 Of thine unchanging purity and love, 
 Of cleansing streams that were from thee to flow, 
 And make his nature what it was before. 
 O'er my moist brow thou didst the arch extend 
 In whose bright hues were written words of hope, 
 When backward to their dwelling thou didst drive 
 The loosened floods, for which were built anew 
 The broken fountains of the troubled deep. 
 O Parent of the floods ! how great thy love 
 Has shown itself to erring man and me ; 
 He, ever falling, may like me arise ; 
 He, ever dying, make like me still live. 
 Strange revolutions of the world I've seen, 
 Nations new-born, grown gray and perished all ; 
 Others, upon their ruins built, in pride 
 To live, and die like them the curst of Time. 
 Here in this land what wondrous changes seem 
 To chase each other o'er the fields of life ! 
 The savage hordes that once in wonder lost 
 Looked on my form, and heard my voiceful rush, 
 That bowed to me as to a God, while I 31 
 Bowed down to thee, thou true and only One, 
 Have passed away like music from the lip, 
 Whose memory leaves a sadness in the heart. 
 A new race build their dwellings round me now, 
 And voices sweet of Liberty and Truth 
 Blend with the cadence of my endless song. 
 Author of peace ! Giver of Freedom's boon I 
 
118 NIAGARA. 
 
 Thou didst dry up the tides of civil war 
 
 That stained my waters, and didst make th' oppressed 
 
 And the oppressor each his " brother " call. 
 
 O thou blest Power ! I thank thee, while I am 
 
 The link that binds the Present and the Past, 
 
 A kingdom and republic, man to man, 
 
 That never in my tide one drop flows down, 
 
 Once having laved the shores where Error rules, 
 
 Or base-born servitude enthralls the man ; 
 
 Oh ! come the days when every stream and fall 
 
 Shall sing with me of universal love, 
 
 Of earthly peace and human liberty ! 
 
 And never may the despot's chain henceforth 
 
 Cross my free tide, or bind my stubborn rocks ; 
 
 With this last prayer, thou ever blessed One ! 
 
 While rivers flow or fountains bubble up, 
 
 My voice shall ever sound, its hope shall be 
 
 The theme of my deep song, whene'er that voice 
 
 Is not employed in praise direct to thee, 
 
 Till peace and freedom, truth and love prevail, 
 
 And nought but praise shall Nature offer up 
 
 To Thee most worthy, infinitely great !" 
 
 If Nature spoke with voice articulate, 
 Not more expressly could she tell to man, 
 His full subjection 'neath a sway divine, 
 Than now she teaches by the prophet tongue 
 Of these loud waters eloquent of God ! 
 O Revelator ! with thy heaven-sent voice 
 
NI ACrA K A . 119 
 
 And plenal inspiration ever filled, 
 
 Must we not call thy word and mission true, 
 
 Since by the mien of thine impressive form, 
 
 Wherewith thou dost subdue the heart of man, 
 
 By the achievements vast of thy strong hand, 
 
 By all thy heart-deep earnestness of voice, 
 
 Thou dost declare a parentage divine, 
 
 Miraculously born, and taught, and helped ! 
 
 What if the braggart soul its weakness prove 
 
 In falsifying thine illustrious birth, 
 
 And making thee th' unlawful child of Chance, 
 
 Of Fate or Matter's strong affinities ? 
 
 I own a God, the Father of us all, 
 
 I hail thee, elder brother, from that Sire, 
 
 And thus relate myself to Him and thee. 
 
 Sweet to my soul has been the task to weave 
 This chain of verse, and lay it at thy feet ; 
 But now, Magician ! with thy jeweled wand, 
 And many shapes, of every life the type, 
 My rhapsody of thee at last must end, 
 As end all raptures to the heart most dear, 
 In the sad music of the word " Farewell." 
 Yet ere I go, one lingering strain I sound 
 Of thy depart from life, like mine from thee, 
 And then my lengthened strain of thee must end. 
 
 Ah ! with the death of Time thy roar shall cease ; 
 When earth becomes her own funereal pile, 
 
120 NIAGARA. 
 
 When she shall seem to gazing worlds above 
 
 A distant flame, e'en such as she beholds, 
 
 When stars athwart her dark meridian shoot, 
 
 Or comets sweep the pavement of the sky ; 
 
 The thirsty flame shall quaff the ocean's cup, 
 
 And turn on thee despite thy threatening voice, 
 
 On thee, the first and last of Nature's streams, 
 
 The outlet of her heart, and drink thee up, 
 
 Till Nature, like a voiceless Niobe, 
 
 Having no victim left beside herself, 
 
 Shall give her life with thee the last to yield ! 
 
 Then shalt thou sing the death-fraught dirge of all 
 
 Material forms in unison with thine own ,* 
 
 And thus thy wandering notes shall journey through 
 
 That earless void, that chaos echoless : 
 
 " O Parent of the centuries gone by ! 
 Lost in the whirlpool of destructive tides, 
 And never from their sepulchres all sealed 
 To find their resurreption into life, 
 Till angel-fingers break the bond of death, 
 And bring its forms renewed before God's seat 
 Though the rapt Memory shall their image paint 
 On the soft canvas of the human heart 
 Father of years ! Birth-giver of the hours ! 
 At last in death thy tears, O childless Time ! 
 Must mingle now with my life-ceasing tides. 
 With thee, begotten in the infancy 
 Of this Creation, from Jehovah's hand, 
 
NIAGARA. 121 
 
 I joyed to sound the birth-note of the world ; 
 With thee, through eras changing with man's life, 
 'Mid the wild whirl of nations and their fall, 
 'Mid the hoarse shouts and de-vastating strokes 
 Of deluge-hands, and horror-breeding storms, 
 'Mid deep convulsions of the writhing earth, 
 And vast achievements of th' eternal Mind, 
 I have rolled on with thee, thou aged One ! 
 Filled with the stories of the buried Past ; 
 And now, Destroyer, now, O Teacher stern ! 
 Thou Conqueror-of life ! with thee I fall ! 
 Ourselves the conquered, and destroyed, and taught ! 
 Aye, taught ! for lessons long by us unlearned, 
 Ne'er in the book of our experience writ, 
 Are now impressed upon our failing hearts ! 
 
 " I saw the Angel of thy doom descend 
 
 From heavenly portals, in bright clouds attired ; 
 
 Upon his brow a rainbow's circle shone, 
 
 His lovely face refulgent as the sun, 
 
 His feet, like fiery pillars, measureless, 
 
 Moved o'er earth's marl, that smoked along his path, 
 
 And shook with trembling fear down to her heart ; 
 
 The Heavens bowed reverently, as he came down, 
 
 And Darkness crouched in terror at his feet ; 
 
 Upon a cherub-steed he distanced worlds, 
 
 And flew on pinions of the uncaught winds; 
 
 The midnight spread above a tented roof; 
 
 The waters dark and clouded skies were wove 
 
 
122 NIAGARA. 
 
 In one by spirit-hands and looms unseen, 
 
 To form the wide pavilion for his rest ; 
 
 While at the brightness pioneering him, 
 
 Thick clouds shrunk coward-like to the caves of space 
 
 His hand shot arrowy lightnings out o'er earth, 
 
 Till the deep channels of her waters, cleaved 
 
 To their far depths, oped widely to his eye, 
 
 As erst to Israel's children, journeying through, 
 
 Appeared the Red Sea's bed between its waves. 
 
 At his great voice the hills and mountains quaked, 
 
 And showed the earth's foundations far below ; 
 
 The book of Time's dread sentence, opened wide, 
 
 Was in his hand, and with majestic step 
 
 He moved the Messenger of God, and laid 
 
 His right foot on the sea, the left on land, 
 
 Then cried aloud, as when the lion roars, 
 
 While seven deep thunders echoed thus his voice : 82 
 
 " ' By that great One the Infinite o'er all, 
 
 Whose being is Eternity itself, 
 
 Who, with His arm alone, created earth, 
 
 And all things that possess existence here, 
 
 I swear ! oh hear, thou universe, the oath ! 
 
 I swear that Time shall live and reign no more ! 
 
 For soon these suns, these moons, these stars of light, 
 
 That are the hearts and pulses of his life, 
 
 This earth, whose silent revolutions trace 
 
 Upon his dial-plate the steps he takes, 
 
 These times and seasons, that are but his breath, 
 
NIAGARA 
 
 Shall Ruin bury in the tomb of space, 
 
 And Chaos o'er them roll his Dead Sea's wave !' 
 
 " Scarce had he spoke, when lo ! the heavens were rent, 
 
 And through their portals, opened far above, 
 
 A throne of white stood pendent from its height ; 
 
 Of white, not such as mountain-tops of snow, 
 
 Or foaming waves. of Ocean's crest display, 
 
 But like the daze of molten metals, pale 
 
 With glow of heat intense in furnace vast, 
 
 And on that throne sat one whose form untraced, 
 
 And undistinguished, though still dimly viewed 
 
 In the rich hues of jasper and sardine, 
 
 Was other none than Deity himself! 
 
 Circling his brow a rainbow emerald-like 
 
 Crowned him with radiance from celestial suns ; 
 
 Around the throne, on four and twenty seats, 
 
 Thus many elders sat in garments white, 
 
 With coronets of gold .upon their heads ; 
 
 Out of that throne swift-lightning glances came, 
 
 With thunder-tones of voices cymbal-like ; 
 
 Before its face lamps seven of fire burned high, 
 
 The spirits emanant of Deity ! 
 
 Below it rolled a crystal sea of glass, 
 
 Molten beneath the light reflected thence ; 
 
 And guardian beasts, with myriad eyes unshut, 
 
 That with the elders rest not from their cry, 
 
 ' O HOLY, HOLY, HOLY LORD, ALMIGHTY GOD.' 
 
121 NIAGARA. 
 
 " I saw the dead, both small and great, uprise 
 
 From sea-caves deep and peopled catacombs, 
 
 From mausoleums vast and mummied aisles, 
 
 From dim sepulchral halls and earthquake chasms, 
 
 From lava-tombs and marble monuments, 
 
 From desert sand-heaps and from leafy shades, 
 
 From Memphian pyramids and Indian mounds, 
 
 From ashy urns and fireless funeral piles, 
 
 From icy grottoes and cemented vaults, 
 
 From hillocks high and lowly grass-grown graves, 
 
 From bloodied battle-field and sea-washed beach, 
 
 From all the burial places of the earth ; 
 
 From damning shades, where grim despair has rule, 
 
 And everlasting chains of darkness bind 
 
 The wretched spirit self-exiled from day ; 
 
 From plains ethereal where perfected hope 
 
 Is lost in love, and humble faith in sight ; 
 
 From worlds of joy that spin their glittering web, 
 
 And spangle it with dew-like drops of light, 
 
 From all the regions of existence far, 
 
 I saw them feome and stand before the throne, 
 
 Where books were opened, whose recorded page 
 
 Gave histories of every life that was. 
 
 At this tribunal high were all arraigned, 
 
 The faithful spirits pure in loyalty, 
 
 The renegades, that forged their own damned chains, 
 
 The unbelieving and believing soul ; 
 
 Each heard his story read, his life revealed, 
 
 His meed awarded, or his sentence passed, 
 
NIAGARA. 125 
 
 His portion rendered in the lake of fire, 
 
 Or in eternal mansions of delight ; 
 
 Yet ere the doom was sealed, or joy proclaimed, 
 
 The fiat fixing every destiny, 
 
 Uttered in ears that trembled or were glad, 
 
 I saw O sight transcendently sublime ! 
 
 I saw all solar worlds move from their spheres, 
 
 And leave each orbit then untrod, t' ascend 
 
 The steep aerial, and their halos form 
 
 In wide concentric circles o'er the throne, 
 
 While in the midst of their circumferent ranks, 
 
 The Sun himself, though with a paling disk, 
 
 In the keen whiteness of that Light divine, 
 
 Stood still above the fiery throne of God ! 
 
 Oh ! how majestic was their heavenward march ! 
 
 As if an army on celestial plains 
 
 Shone with reflecting cuirasses of steel, 
 
 With helmets bright, and breast-plates all begemmed 
 
 With twinkling spears and golden -hilted swords, 
 
 With furbished javelins and coats of mail, 
 
 Glistering with thousand scales of polished brass, 
 
 With cross-like halberds, framed of straightened shafts, 
 
 With burnished shields in armory entire ! 
 
 Then as they moved, the trampings of their feet 
 
 Made measured music for the Universe ; 
 
 And loud their rushings through the upper air, 
 
 Seemed like the echo of their morning song I 
 
 What awful stillness locked the doors of sound, 
 
 And manacled the many forms of space, 
 
126 NIAGARA. 
 
 When at their rendezvous all met, they stood 
 
 In circling ranks, in van, in rear, in flank, 
 
 To wait obedient their Commander's word ! 
 
 How anxiously did that expectant throng 
 
 List to the utterance of God's awful voice ! 
 
 As with unimitated tones, supreme 
 
 And uncompared with aught, it rolled along 
 
 A sea of deafening sound enunciate, 
 
 Down through the intervals of gathered worlds, 
 
 In words terrific to the sin-bound soul, 
 
 But sweetly welcome to the holy heart : 
 
 ' Come saints, and dwell in my celestial halls ! 
 
 Hence fiends, and writhe in everlasting chains ! 
 
 Go worlds, and consummate your task of death ! 
 
 Creation now her travailing life must end ! ' 
 
 " Loud from those myriad lips of life ring out, 
 
 Like blasts from silver clarions numberless, 
 
 The melodies of joy that float along, 
 
 Born of the heart, through vistas deep of space, 
 
 In airy undulations, reaching far, 
 
 Like the soft ripple's chimes o'er breathless lakes, 
 
 Disturbed by pebbles, to the distant shore. 
 
 Oh ! never since Creation breathed were strains 
 
 More thrilling, or were song more rapt and blest ! 
 
 No ! not e'en when the new-born morning stars 
 
 With their young music filled the ear of Time ; 
 
 Nor when the voice of promise echoed hope 
 
 In man's void heart then sepulchred in sin ; 
 
NIAGARA. 127 
 
 Nor when the prophet tongue revealed to earth 
 
 The lustrous pictures of millennial times ; 
 
 Nor when th' ethereal heralds turned the view 
 
 To visits of the Day-spring from on high ; 
 
 Nor when rejoicing angels strung anew 
 
 Their harps and sang the sinner's new-born faith ; 
 
 Nor when the scheme of saving blood was formed, 
 
 Or stood perfected in proportions fair ; 
 
 No ! never erst like this did music peal 
 
 O'er broad savannas of the Universe ; 
 
 For angels approbated, saints redeemed, 
 
 And venerable elders round the throne, 
 
 Ten thousand times ten thousand of each tongue, 
 
 Thousands of thousands from all tribes of life, 
 
 Sang ' Worthy is the Lamb, the Lamb once slain ; 
 
 Let blessing, honor, praise and power be his, 
 
 Who sits for ever on the throne of Heaven !' 
 
 " But oh ! what dissonance, like earthquake shocks, 
 Follows the footsteps of that harmony, 
 And treads malignantly upon its heel ! 
 'Twould seem that all the spirits hurled to hell, 
 Stunned by the dread concussion of their doom, 
 Had stood awhile in dumb amazement lost, 
 While through the arch of sound rejoicings rung, 
 Like the sweet airs that pioneer the storm, 
 Or tell the fierce volcano's fiery burst ; 
 Now from their bosoms, as from craters deep, 
 Boiling with flame, they belch their lava-hate, 
 
128 NIAGARA. 
 
 To roll destructive down the airy steep, 
 And whelm the melodies that ring below ; 
 So curst their ire, so envious their despair, 
 So damned their spite and rancor fierce uprose. 
 
 " Now clashing like the arms of serried hosts, 
 
 With brazen cymbals, full of clangous sound, 
 
 And scimetars of steel, that flash with sparks, 
 
 The worlds above meet close in martial strife, 
 
 As when Within some land united long, 
 
 Fell civil discord fires its people's hearts 
 
 To hurtle ruin on each other's heads. 
 
 In wild confusion on they rush to death, 
 
 With flaming wrath and self-destroying siege. 
 
 Earth mingles in the war, and swells the din ; 
 
 O'er her vast breast it seems as if she were 
 
 A sacrificial victim, slain and burned 
 
 Upon the altar of the Universe, 
 
 Whose incense mounts to empyrean thrones, 
 
 For on her fall sharp lambent tongues of fire, 
 
 And meteoric rocks from distance hurled, 
 
 Roll down her hills and o'er her wide champaigns, 
 
 With flames that avalanche-like sweep along ; 
 
 The lofty mounts that pillared up the skies, 
 
 With glaciers crowned, and wreaths of bleaching snows, 
 
 Are heated columns, down whose hissing sides 
 
 Roll swift resistless tides of melted ice, 
 
 That in the valleys as in caldrons boil ; 
 
 O'er northern shores, whose bulwarks strong were built 
 
NIAGARA. 129 
 
 Of massive icebergs, frozen year by year, 
 The torrent heat flows with consuming might, 
 Before whose blasts each polar fortress falls ; 
 Deep in the boiling sea its monsters writhe, 
 And prey upon each other in their pain ; 
 They howl despairing through the caverned depths, 
 Or toss tormented on the surface hot, 
 From which the steams in columned clouds arise ; 
 From the vast crucible, that heated stands 
 Within the laboratory of the earth, 
 Tides fathomless of metal-fire flow up, 
 And through volcanic doors and fissured rocks, 
 Rush with impetuous speed and loud report, 
 All life's opposing ranks to level down, 
 As if from Nature's ordnance shot o'er earth ; 
 The forest trees that towered so long in pride, 
 The regal masters of the soil their throne, 
 Now with the conflagration crackle down, 
 And burn like fagots at earth's martyr-stake ; 
 The fierce wild beasts, that sought their lairs at first, 
 With hope t' escape, in those cool refuge-haunts, 
 The singeing breath of ever-journeying flames, 
 Now meet in friendship with their former foes, 
 As need and danger drown all mutual hate 
 In dark oblivion, asking sympathy ; 
 They tread the burning plain, the embers hot, 
 To seek accustomed fountains long since dried, 
 Till, in their maddening thirst, with bowlings wild, 
 At last they turn and drink each other's blood. 
 7 
 
130 NIAGARA. 
 
 Ye streams that laved my ever-thirsting Kpsf 
 
 Ye lakes that poured your treasures in my lap ! 
 
 Thou sea returning of my waters loaned ! 
 
 Where are ye all ? My life's loved currents fail ! 
 
 I feel the steps inflammable approach ! 
 
 My rocky banks crack to their lowest base ! 
 
 The islands anchored near rush o'er my verge I 
 
 Death's fever rages in my heated brow, 
 
 And turns to vapor damps that linger there f 
 
 Few drops remain, and they, too hissing hot, 
 
 Pass o'er the reddened precipice in mist ! 
 
 My rock-brain reels, I totter down th' abyss ! 
 
 O Time ! O Nature ! with your Cataract, 
 
 All sink to perish in one grave of fire ! 
 
 My voice grows feeble ; I but whisper now f 
 
 Thou great Creator, when thou form'st anew 
 
 The earth and heavens where righteousness shall dwell, 
 
 Pour out my tide once more to sing of Thee ! 
 
 Till then, O Time ! O Nature ! fare ye well !" 
 
 Thou Waterfall ! in that new land made pure, 
 In bliss beyond my heart's best wish, I hope 
 To hear the echoes of thy hymn again. 
 But now I sound the song of my depart ; 
 Farewell, blest Muse, whose full-inspiring power 
 Hath swept the chords long silent in my soul, 
 And waked the strains that are but echoes faint 
 Of thine unrivaled music, which to mine 
 Seems like the harpings of the swelling sea 
 

 NIAGARA. 131 
 
 To the still breathings of its humblest shell ; 
 
 Farewell, Enchanter, thou hast bound my heart 
 
 By the strong withes of thine all-conquering love. 
 
 And shorn me of self-glory, leaving me 
 
 Humble and weak in thy Philistine power ; 
 
 For never more may I in pride uprise, 
 
 And deem myself aught slave a helpless thing, 
 
 In memory of thy majestic mien ; 
 
 Oh ! it was sweet upon thy lap to rest, 
 
 To look upon thy beauty and adore, 
 
 To hear the harmony of thy loved voice, 
 
 And feel the dalliance of thy spray-hand's touch. 
 
 Farewell ! as oft from woman's look I've turned. 
 
 Presuming not t' aspire and share her bliss, 
 
 With a soul longing for requited love, 
 
 Yet far too proud to bear rejected suit, 
 
 Though ever graving on my heart her smile, 
 
 From thee I go, O Waterfall beloved ! 
 
 In midnight dreamings I shall oft behold 
 
 Thy beauties sweeping o'er my feeling heart ; 
 
 I pray the Father that thy memories aye 
 
 May serve to cleanse it from corruption's stain, 
 
 As thine own waters purify earth's forms. 
 
 Farewell, blest Charmer, it is hard to part 
 
 From one endeared by sacred ties of song ; 
 
 But earth to other tasks invokes her son ; 
 
 Her requisitions stern oft mar our bliss, 
 
 And parting ever is the lot she gives. 
 
 Farewell ! my breast, though swelling with regret, 
 
132 NIAGARA. 
 
 My eyes, though streaming o'er with heart-warm tears, 
 In loving grief, with sympathy for thee, 
 May not reverse the summons to be gone ! 
 I haste away, loved Waterfall FAREWELL ! 
 
NOTES 
 

 
 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE 1. PAGE 9. 
 
 THE name NIAGARA is of Indian origin, and according 
 to a pamphlet published in 1827, by David Casich, a mem- 
 ber of the Tuscarora tribe of Indians, who occupied the 
 grounds contiguous to the Falls, its orthography and 
 pronunciation among this people were originally thus : 
 Ony-a-kar-ra, the signification of which is variously given 
 by others as the " Thunder of waters" "Across the neck 
 or strait of waters" " A fall of water" " Broken water" 
 " Running wat.er" " The voice of Haters." The first is 
 probably the most correct signification. 
 
 The Cataract itself is found at forty-three degrees and 
 six minutes, north latitude, and two degrees six minutes west 
 longitude from Washington. Its distance from Lake Erie 
 towards the north, where the Niagara river commences, 
 is twenty miles, and fourteen miles from Lake Ontario, 
 towards the south, where the river terminates. 
 
 The earliest reference whatever that we have of the 
 Falls is that of Creuxio, the author of a History of Canada, 
 published in 1660, who has marked it down upon his map, 
 but has not mentioned it, however, in the History itself. 
 
136 tfOTES. 
 
 We next find a description of this wonder by Father Hen- 
 nepin, who visited it in December, 1678. This Hennepin 
 was a Roman Catholic missionary, who having come to 
 Canada in 1676, and remained at Fort Frontenac, in the 
 discharge of his priestly functions, for two years, after- 
 wards accompanied La Salle in his expedition to the 
 Upper Lakes and the Mississippi. His work is entitled, " A 
 New Discovery of a Vast Country in America, extending 
 above four thousand miles, between New France and New 
 Mexico, with a description of the Great .Lakes, Cataracts, 
 Rivers, Plants and Animals ; also the Manners, Customs 
 and Languages of the several Native Indians, and the Ad- 
 vantages of Commerce with these different Nations, &c." 
 Dedicated to His most Excellent Majesty, William III., 
 King of Great Britain, &c., by F. Louis Hennepin. Lon- 
 don, 1698. His work was first published in Utrecht in 
 1697. The following are interesting extracts from this 
 account : " Betwixt the Lakes Ontario and Erie, there is 
 a vast and prodigious cadence of water, which falls down 
 after a surprising and astonishing manner ; insomuch that 
 the universe does not afford its parallel. 'Tis true, Italy 
 and Suedland boast of some such things, but we may well 
 say that they are but sorry patterns when compared with 
 this of which we now speak. At the foot of this horrible 
 precipice, we meet with the river Niagara, which is not 
 above a quarter of a league broad, but is wonderfully 
 deep in some places. It is so rapid above this descent, 
 that it violently hurries down the wild beasts while en- 
 deavoring to pass it to feed on the other side, they not be- 
 
 
 
NOTES. 137 
 
 ing able to withstand the force of its current, which inevi- 
 tably casts them headlong above six hundred feet high. 
 
 " This wonderful downfall is compounded of two great 
 cross streams of water and two falls, with an isle sloping 
 along the middle of it. The waters which fall from this 
 horrible precipice do foam and boil after the most hideous 
 manner imaginable, making an outrageous noise, more 
 terrible than that of thunder ; for when the wind blows 
 out of the south, their dismal roaring may be heard more 
 than fifteen leagues off. 
 
 " The river Niagara, having thrown itself down"this 
 incredible precipice, continues its impetuous course for 
 two leagues together, to the Great Rock above mentioned, 
 with an inexpressible rapidity, but having passed that, its 
 impetuosity relents, gliding along more gently for two 
 other leagues, till it arrives at the Lake Ontario or Fron- 
 tenac. 
 
 " Any barque or greater vessel may pass from the 
 Fort to the top of this huge rock above mentioned. This 
 rock lies to the westward, and is cut off from the land by 
 the river Niagara, about two leagues further down than 
 the Great Fall, for which two leagues the people are 
 obliged to transport their goods over land, but the way is 
 very good, and the trees are but few, chiefly firs and oaks. 
 
 " From the Great Fall unto this rock, which is to the 
 west of the river, the two brinks of it are so prodigious 
 high, that it would make one tremble to look steadily upon 
 the water, rolling along with a rapidity not to be imagined. 
 Were it not for this vast cataract, which interrupts navi- 
 
 7* 
 
138 NOTES. 
 
 gation, they might sail with barques or greater vessels 
 more than four hundred and fifty leagues, crossing the 
 Lake of Huron, and reaching even to the further end of 
 the Lake Illinois ; which two lakes we may easily say 
 are little seas of fresh water. 
 
 " After we had rowed above an hundred and forty 
 leagues upon the Lake Erie, by reason of the many wind- 
 ings of the bays and creeks which we were forced to 
 coast, we passed by the Great Fall of Niagara, and spent 
 half a day in considering the wonders of that prodigious 
 cascade. 
 
 " I could not conceive how it came to pass, that four 
 great lakes, the least of which is four hundred leagues in 
 compass, should empty themselves one into another, and 
 then all centre and discharge themselves at this Great 
 Fall, and yet not drown good part of ^America. What is 
 yet more surprising, the ground, from the mouth of Lake 
 Erie down to the Great Fall, appears almost level and flat. 
 It is scarce discernible that there is the least rise or fall 
 for six leagues together. The more than ordinary swift- 
 ness of the stream is the only thing which makes it to be 
 observed. And that which makes it yet the stranger is, 
 that for two leagues together, below the Fall towards Lake 
 Ontario or Frontenac, the lands are as level as they are 
 above it or towards the Lake Erie. 
 
 " Our surprise was still greater when we observed 
 there was no mountain within two good leagues of this 
 cascade ; and yet the vast quantity of water which is dis- 
 charged by these four fresh seas, stops or centres here, 
 
NOTES. 139 
 
 and so falls above six hundred feet deep down into a gulf 
 which one cannot look upon without horror. Two other 
 great outlets or falls of water which are on the two sides 
 of a small sloping island, which is in the midst, fall gently 
 and without noise, and so glide away quietly enough ; 
 but when this prodigious quantity of water of which I 
 speak, comes to the fall, there is such a din and such a 
 noise, more deafening than the loudest thunder. 
 
 " The rebounding of these waters is so great, that a 
 sort of cloud arises from the foam of it, which is seen 
 hanging over this abyss, even at noon-day, when the sun 
 is at its height. In the midst of summer, when the 
 weather is hottest, they rise above the tallest firs, and 
 other great trees, which grow on the sloping island which 
 makes the two falls of water that I spoke of. 
 
 " I wished an hundred times that somebody had been 
 with us who could have described the wonders of this pro- 
 digious Fall, so as to give the reader a just and natural 
 idea of it ; such as might satisfy him, and cause in him 
 an admiration of this prodigy of Nature as great as it de- 
 serVes. In the meantime accept the following draught, 
 such as it is ; in which however I have endeavored to give 
 the curious reader as just an image of it as I can. 
 
 " We must call to mind what I observed of it in the be- 
 ginning of my voyage. From the rnouth of the Lake Erie 
 to the Great Fall are reckoned six leagues, as I have said, 
 which is the continuation of the great river of St. Law- 
 rence, which arises out of the four lakes above mentioned. 
 The river, you must needs think, is very rapid for these 
 
140 NOTES. 
 
 six leagues, because of the vast discharge of waters which 
 fall into it out of the said lakes. The lands which lie on 
 both sides of it to the east and west, are all level from the 
 Lake Erie to the Great Fall. Its banks are not steep^ on 
 the contrary, the water is almost always level with the 
 land. It is very certain, that the ground towards the Fall 
 is lower, by the more than ordinary swiftness of the stream ; 
 and yet it is not perceivable to the eye for six leagues 
 above. 
 
 " After it has run thus violently for six leages, it meets 
 with a small sloping island, about half a quarter of a league 
 long, and near three hundred feet broad, as well as one 
 can guess by the eye ; for it is impossible to come at it in 
 a canoe of bark, the waters run with that force. The isle 
 is full of cedar and fir, but the land of it lies no higher than 
 that on the banks of the river. It seems to be all level, 
 even as far as the two great cascades that make the main 
 Fall. 
 
 " The two sides of the channels, which are made by the 
 isle, and run on both sides of it, overflow almost the very 
 surface of the earth of the said isle, as well as the land 
 that lies on the banks of the river to the east and west as 
 it runs south and north. But we must observe, that at the 
 end of the isle, on the side of the two Great Falls, there is 
 a sloping rock which reaches as far as the great gulf, into 
 which the said water falls, and yet the rock is not at all 
 wetted by the two cascades, which fall on both sides, be- 
 cause the two torrents which are made by the isle, throw 
 themselves with a prodigious force, one towards the east, 
 
NOTES. 141 
 
 and the other towards the west, from off the end of the isle, 
 where the Great Fall of all is. 
 
 " After these two torrents have thus run by the two 
 sides of the isle, they cast their waters all of a sudden 
 down into the gulf by two great falls ; which waters are 
 pushed so violently on by their own weight, and so sus- 
 tained by the swiftness of the motion, that they do not wet 
 the rock in the least. And here it is that they tumble 
 down into an abyss six hundred feet in depth. 
 
 " The waters that flow on the side of the east, do not 
 throw themselves with that violence as those that fall on 
 the west ; the reason is, because the rock at the end of the 
 island rises something more on this side than it does on the 
 west ; and so the waters being supported by it somewhat 
 longer than they are on the other side, are carried the 
 smoother off; but on the west, the rock sloping more, the 
 waters, for want of support, become sooner broken, and fall 
 with greater precipitation. Another reason is, the lands 
 that lie on the west are lower than those that lie on the 
 east. We also observed that the waters of the fall that is 
 to the west, made a sort of square figure as they fell, 
 which made a third cascade, less than the other two which 
 fell betwixt the south and north. 
 
 " And because there is a rising ground which lies be- 
 fore these two cascades to the north, the gulf is much 
 larger there than to the east. Moreover, we must observe 
 that from the rising ground that lies over against the last 
 two falls, which are on the west of the main fall, one may 
 go down as far as the bottom of this terrible gulf. The 
 
142 NOTES. 
 
 author of this discovery was down there, the more nar- 
 rowly to observe the fall of these prodigious cascades. 
 From thence we could discover a spot of ground, which lay 
 under the fall of water which is to the east, big enough 
 for four coaches to drive abreast without being wet ; but be- 
 cause the ground which is to the east of the sloping rock, 
 where the first fall empties itself into the gulf, is very 
 steep and perpendicular, it is impossible for a man to get 
 down on that side, into the place where the four coaches 
 may go abreast, or to make his way through such a quan- 
 tity of water as falls towards the gulf; so that it is very 
 probable that to this dry place it is that the rattlesnakes 
 retire, by certain passages which they find under ground. 
 
 "From the end of this island it is that these two great 
 falls of water, as also the third but now. mentioned, throw 
 themselves, after a most surprising manner, down into a 
 dreadful gulf, six hundred feet and more in depth. I have 
 already said, that the waters which discharge themselves 
 at the cascade to the east, fall with lesser force ; whereas 
 those to the west tumble all at once, making two cascades, 
 one moderate, the other very violent and strong, which at 
 last make a kind of crotchet or square figure, falling from 
 south to north and west to east. After this they rejoin the 
 waters of the other cascade that falls to the east, and so 
 tumble down altogether, though unequally, into the gulf, 
 with all the violence that can be imagined, from a fall of 
 six hundred feet, which makes the most frightful cascade 
 in the world. 
 
 " After these waters have thus discharged themselves 
 
NOTES. 143 
 
 into the dreadful gulf, they begin to resume their course, 
 and continue the great river St. Lawrence for two leagues, 
 as far as the three mountains which are on the east side of 
 the fiver, and the great rock, which is on the west and lifts 
 itself three fathoms above the water, or thereabouts. The 
 gulf into which these waters are discharged, continues it- 
 self thus two leagues together between a chain of rocks, 
 flowing with a prodigious torrent, which is bridled and kept 
 in by the rocks that lie on each side of the river. 
 
 " Into this gulf it is that these several cascades empty 
 themselves, with a violence equal to theiieight from whence 
 they fall, and the quantity of water which they discharge ; 
 and hence arise those deafening sounds, that dreadful roar- 
 ing and bellowing of the waters, which drown the loudest 
 thunder, as also the perpetual mists that hang over the gulf, 
 and rise above the tallest pines that are in the little isle so 
 often mentioned. After a channel is again made at the 
 bottom of this dreadful fall, by the chain of rocks, and filled 
 by that prodigious quantity of waters which are continually 
 falling, the river St. Lawrence resumes its course. But 
 with that violence, and its waters beat against the rocks 
 with so prodigious a force, that it is impossible to pass even 
 in a canoe of bark, though in one of them a man may ven- 
 ture safe enough upon the most rapid streams, by keeping 
 close to the shore. 
 
 " These rocks, as also the prodigious torrent, last for 
 two leagues, that is from the great falls, to the three moun- 
 tains and great rock ; but then it begins insensibly to abate, 
 and the land to be again almost on a level with the water, 
 
144 NOTES. 
 
 and so it continues as far as the Lake Ontario or Frontjenac. 
 " When one stands near the fall, and looks down into 
 the dreadful gulf, one is seized with horror, and the head 
 turns round, so that one cannot look long or steadfastly 
 upon it. But this vast deluge beginning insensibly to abate, 
 and even to fall to nothing about the three mountains, the 
 waters of the river St. Lawrence begin to glide more gently 
 along, and to be almost upon a level with the lands ; so that 
 it becomes navigable again as far as the Lake Frontenac, 
 over which we pass to come to the new canal, which is 
 made by the discharge of its waters. Then we enter again 
 upon the river St. Lawrence, which not long after makes 
 that which they call the Long Fall, an hundred leagues 
 from Niagara. 
 
 " I have often heard talk of the cataracts of the Nile, 
 which make the people deaf that live near them. I know 
 not if the Iroquois, who formerly inhabited near this fall, 
 and lived upon wild beasts which from time to time are 
 borne down by the violence of its torrents, withdrew them- 
 selves from its neighborhood, lest they should likewise be- 
 come deaf, or out of the continual fear they were in of rat- 
 tlesnakes, which are very common in this place during 
 the great heats, and lodge in the holes of the rocks as far 
 as the mountains which lie two leagues lower." 
 
 This description is generally correct, with the excep- 
 tion of some exaggerations respecting the height of the falls 
 and the several distances referred to, which will be cor- 
 rectly stated in the subsequent notes. 
 
 The next account of the Falls was given by Baron La 
 
NOTES. 145 
 
 Hontaine, who published in London duriftg the year 1703 
 a work entitled " New Voyages to North America," &c.; 
 which was originally written in the French language. 
 He records his visit as occurring in 1688, and thus de- 
 scribes the Falls : " As for the waterfall of Niagara, 'tis 
 seven or eight hundred feet high, and a half league broad. 
 Towards the middle of it we descry an island, that leans 
 towards the precipice as if it were ready to fall. All the 
 beasts that cross the waters within half a quarter of a league 
 above this unfortunate island, are sucked in by the stream; 
 Between the surface of the water, that shelves off prodi- 
 giously, and the foot of the precipice, three men may cross 
 it abreast, without any other damage than a sprinkling of 
 some few drops of water." 
 
 The testimony of De Kalm, a Danish naturalist, who 
 visited the Falls in 1750, published in the Gentleman's 
 Magazine, in 1757, agrees with that of Father Hennepfn, 
 with one exception respecting the third cascade, to which 
 reference will be made in the following notes. 
 
 The estimate concerning the height of the Falls made 
 by Hennepin and La Hontaine, is greatly exaggerated, 
 unless we consider the probability that they reckoned the 
 distance from the highest summit of the precipice to the 
 supposed depth of the gulf below, which distance ap- 
 proximates somewhat nearly to that thus given. 
 
 The real height of the Falls, however, is estimated at one 
 hundred and sixty-four feet on the American side, and one 
 hundred and fifty-four feet on the Canada side. The water 
 is precipitated over a ledge of rocks in a compact mass 
 
146 NOTES. 
 
 into a chasm, the^epth of which has never been correctly 
 ascertained. From the violence and rapidity of the water 
 below, all efforts to fathom it have been vain ; but it is 
 supposed to be about two hundred and forty feet deep. 
 
 There are at present really three separate Falls form- 
 ing the Cataract of Niagara, produced by the intervention 
 of islands dividing the river in its descending course, 
 and presenting, on their southern sides, high precipices, the 
 extension of which forms the area of descent. That por- 
 tion of the torrent which is between Iris and Luna or 
 Prospect Islands, is called the Central Fall. Between the 
 American shore and Prospect Island is the American or 
 Schlosser Fall ; and the British or Horseshoe Fall, be- 
 tween Iris Island and the Canada shore. The two former 
 Cascades viewed together are usually called the American 
 Fall, and have a descent of one hundred and sixty-four 
 feet ; they stretch to an extent of one thousand feet. The 
 Horseshoe Fall is the largest portion of the Cataract, 
 having an extent of two thousand and one hundred feet, 
 and a height of one hundred and fifty-eight feet. Its shape 
 is more like an Indian bow than a horseshoe, the curve of 
 which, in its centre, is always obscured by the clouds of 
 vapor that ascend from the turbulent tide below. 
 
 These Falls have undergone some changes since their 
 first discovery. When Father Hennepin first visited them, 
 the Horseshoe Fall was nearly straight. From the view 
 which his rude engraving gives of the Cataract, and from 
 his minute description, it is evident that a rock projected 
 upon the west side of the river, which turned a part of the 
 
NOTES. 147 
 
 water across the main Fall, thus making an additional 
 cascade not found at the present time. This is a fact of 
 great interest, exhibiting at least one important change as 
 having occurred within the historical era. That a portion 
 of the water was projected from west to, east, almost at 
 right angles with the main Fall, forming a cross Fall, 
 cannot be questioned. Professor Kalm, who visited Nia- 
 gara seventy-three years after Father Hennepin, speaks 
 of a precipitation of the rocks at this point, where the 
 water was turned originally out of its direct course, as 
 having occurred a few years previous to his visit, and in 
 his engraved view of the Falls indicates the precise spot 
 which corresponds to that stated by Hennepin. 
 
 Various attempts have been made to arrive at a cor- 
 rect estimate of the amount of water passing over the 
 precipice of Niagara. Dr. Dwight, taking the depth, 
 width, and velocity of the current, as his data, calculated 
 that more than eighty-five millions of tons went over per 
 hour. By another calculation, supposing the current to 
 run at the rate of six miles per hour, instead of five as 
 in the first, the quantity has been estimated at the rate 
 of 102,093,750 tons per hour. But this estimate of the 
 velocity of the tide is regarded as too high, a point how- 
 ever which can scarcely be decided upon from the fierce- 
 ness and force of the falling torrent. The following table of 
 calculations respecting the amount of water flowing down 
 the Niagara river, is taken from the Geological Survey of 
 the State of New- York; 
 
1.48 NOTES. 
 
 By Dr. Dwight, it is estimated at 361,392,742 cubic ft. permirmte. 
 By Mr. Darby, 27,878,400 " " 
 
 By Mr. Pickens, 3,087,533 " " 
 
 By Mr. Barrett, 19,500,000 " " 
 
 The last estimate is from three different observations 
 made at Black Rock, during the high water of 1838 and 
 1839. The extremes of all the observations did not vary 
 more than 20,000 feet per minute. It will be seen from 
 the variations in the foregoing calculations that a correct 
 estimate can scarcely be arrived at upon this point. A. 
 general idea therefore only may be gained of the im- 
 mense quantity of water that flows so uninterruptedly at 
 these Falls. This idea may be more fully impressed 
 upon the mind, by considering also the fact, that the lakes 
 and tributary streams supplying the river Niagara, cover a 
 surface of about one hundred and fifty thousand square 
 miles ; the land surface drained by them measuring near- 
 ly half a million of square miles. (For a more full 
 account of these Lakes and tributaries, see subsequent note 
 on Niagara river.) The spray arising from this immense 
 mass of falling water is always ascending, and visible in 
 moving columns, except when scattered by the winds. It 
 assumes a pyramidal form, and passes off into clouds that 
 hover over the point from which it ascended, and is seen 
 at great distances, sometimes not less than one hundred 
 miles. 
 
 Father Hennepin has greatly exaggerated the roar of 
 Niagara. The distance at which it can be heard is 
 
NOTES. 149 
 
 modified by the state of the atmosphere and the relative 
 position of the listener. Along the course of the river the 
 sound is perceptible at a distance of fourteen miles, and in 
 other directions not more than five or six miles. Some 
 have declared they could hear it when distant thirty miles, 
 and even at Toronto, in Canada, forty-five miles. And 
 yet, strange to say, it is scarcely heard within the precincts 
 of the Falls above and at a little distance from them, the 
 vibrations of the atmosphere doubtless conveying the sound 
 down the stream, between its precipitous banks. Indeed, 
 the wonder is to the visitor, not that the cadence is so 
 great, but so small, compared with the quantity of water 
 that falls. 
 
 NOTE 2. PAGE 12. 
 
 " IN the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord 
 sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train 
 filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims, each one 
 had six wings ; with twain he covered his face, and with 
 twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And 
 one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy, LORD of 
 hosts ; the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts 
 of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the 
 house was filled with smoke. Then said I, wo is me ! for 
 I am undone ; because I am a man of unclean lips, and 
 I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips ; for mine 
 eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew 
 one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his 
 
150 NOTES. 
 
 hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the al- 
 tar : and he laid it upon my mouth and said, Lo, this hath 
 touched thy lips ; and thine iniquity is taken away and 
 thy sin purged." Isaiah iv. 1-5. 
 
 NOTE 3. PAGE 21. 
 
 It is said that the stag, when in the extremity of the 
 chase, seeing his death to be inevitable, will shed tears. 
 Thomson, in his Seasons, thus refers to this peculiarity : 
 
 " The stag too singled ; 
 
 His once so vivid nerves, 
 
 So full of buoyant spirit, now no more 
 
 Inspire the course ; but fainting, breathless toil, 
 
 Sick, seizes on his heart ; he stands at bay ; 
 
 And puts his last weak refuge in despair. 
 
 The big round tears run down his dappled face ; 
 
 He groans in anguish ; while the growling pack, 
 
 Blood-happy, hang at his fair jutting chest, 
 
 And mark his beauteous checquer'd sides with gore." 
 
 Autumn. 
 
 NOTE 4. PAGE 27. 
 
 " Because that which may be known of God is manifest 
 in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the 
 invisible things of him from the creation of the world are 
 clearly seen, being understood by the things that are 
 made, even his eternal power and Godhead ; so that they 
 are without excuse : because that when they knew God, 
 
NOTES. 151 
 
 they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but 
 became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart 
 was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they 
 became fools ; and changed the glory of the incorruptible 
 God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to 
 birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." 
 Romans i. 19-23. 
 
 NOTE 5. PAGE 30. 
 
 The attempt has been made by some to prove from 
 certain changes now evidently occurring about the Falls 
 and the Great Lakes, that there will be in coming time a 
 sudden deluge of the country bordering upon them. In 
 reference to such an event Mr. Hall, in his Geological 
 Survey, says, " The views which have been entertained 
 of the sudden drainage of this (Lake Erie) or any of the 
 Upper Lakes, and a deluging of the country on the north 
 and east, are no longer considered tenable by any one ; 
 and even if Lake Erie could be drained suddenly, it would 
 cause no deluge of any importance. If the whole Lake 
 were at once placed upon Lake Ontario, it would only 
 elevate its surface about one hundred and fifty feet, so 
 that its extent would not exceed the limits of the ancient 
 lake ridge, and the outlet would still be the valley of the 
 St. Lawrence." 
 
 NOTE 6. PAGE 33. 
 
 " Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, 
 the priest of Midian : and he led the flock to the back side 
 
152 NOTES. 
 
 of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to 
 Horeb. And the Angel of the LORD appeared unto him 
 in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush ; and he 
 looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the 
 bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now 
 turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not 
 burned. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside 
 to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, 
 and said, Moses, Moses ! And he said, Here am I. And 
 he said, Draw not nigh hither : put off thy shoes from off thy 
 feet ; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 
 Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God 
 of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 
 And Moses hid his face ; for he was afraid to look upon 
 God. Exodus in. 1-6. 
 
 NOTE 7. PAGE 33. 
 
 Numerous and beautiful Islands, connected with the 
 Falls, add much 'to the lovely and striking character of 
 their surrounding scenery. These isolated spots of earth 
 are found above the cataract, some near its descent, and 
 others at a greater distance off. A description of the lat- 
 ter is given in the note on Niagara river, already alluded 
 to. Those that cluster just over the verge of the precipice, 
 are here described. 
 
 The first of these Islands viewed from the American 
 shore is BATH ISLAND, being twenty-four rods in length, 
 and containing about two acres, with a surface originally 
 
NOTES. 153 
 
 rough and broken, covered alternately with rocks and 
 trees. From its shores the rapids are seen plunging head- 
 long towards it with inconceivable impetuosity, leading 
 the beholder to dread momentarily its overflow. It is how- 
 ever based upon an impregnable rock, and strongly with- 
 stands the continued onset of the furious tides, ever rush- 
 ing around it and descending into the abyss beyond. Just 
 above this are SHIP and BRIG ISLANDS, so called from 
 their remote likeness to such vessels, presented by their 
 shape and the various trees that thickly cover their area. 
 Beyond Bath Island is GOAT or IRIS ISLAND, called by 
 the first name because goats were formerly raised upon it, 
 and by the second because upon a clear sunshiny day 
 many beautiful rainbows may be seen from it overhanging 
 the Cataract. This Island, forming on one side a part of 
 the precipice, commences near the head of the Rapids al- 
 most in the centre of the river, dividing it so as to form the 
 two main portions of the Falls that descend on either side. 
 Its length is half a mile, and its width one-fourth of a mile, 
 covering an extent of sixty or seventy acres of fertile land. 
 Goat Island, according to Mr. Hall, is formed by an accu- 
 mulation of gravel, sand and clay upon the surface of the 
 limestone rock, and is evidently a portion of a once much 
 more extensive deposit. Upon the southern side of this 
 Island, where there is an escarpment, the thickness of the 
 superficial deposit is about twenty- five feet. This is a 
 most lovely and romantic spot of ground, affording a cool 
 retreat in summer from the noon-day heat, beneath the 
 dense foliage of trees abounding: there, upon the trunks of 
 
154 NOTES. 
 
 which are inscribed various names and dates showing that 
 visits were here made as early as 1769. On the rocks 
 names are chiseled bearing dates 1711, 1726, 1745, be- 
 lieved to be genuine. This Island had been visited often 
 by the Frencl) and English before it came into the posses- 
 sion of the Americans. Two Indians are said to have been 
 cast upon it, who in order to escape made ropes from the 
 bark of trees, with which they lowered themselves down to 
 the river, along the precipitous bank from seventy to ninety 
 feet high. But they returned again, fearing to pass be- 
 tween the sheets of water constituting the Central and 
 Schlosser Falls, in order to reach the main shore. An in- 
 genious Frenchman in compassion for them, is said to have 
 gone to their assistance on a pair of stilts through the 
 swift current, and thus succeeded in their rescue. The 
 story, although doubted, is so much similar to the follow- 
 ing told by Mr. Peter Kalm, a Swedish gentleman, in an old 
 book of travels published in London in 1750, and quoted 
 by Mr. Willis in his Notes on American Scenery, that the 
 incident referred to seems identical with the former. " It 
 was formerly thought impossible for any body living to 
 come at the island that is in the middle of the Fall ; but an 
 accident that happened twelve years ago made it appear 
 otherwise. The history is this : Two Indians of the Six 
 Nations went out from Niagara Fort to hunt upon an island 
 that is in the middle of the river or strait, some miles above 
 the Great Fall, on which there used to be abundance of 
 deer. They took some French brandy with them from the 
 fort, which they tasted several times as they were carry- 
 
NOTES. 155 
 
 ing their canoe around the Fall ; and when they were in 
 the canoe they now and then took a dram, and so went 
 along up the strait toward the island where they proposed 
 to hunt ; but growing sleepy they laid themselves down in 
 the canoe, which, getting loose, drove back with the stream 
 farther and farther down till it came nigh that island that is 
 in the middle of the FalK Here, one of them, awakened 
 by the noise, cries out to the other, that they were gone ! 
 Yet they tried) if possible, to save life. This island between 
 the Falls was nighest, and with much working they got 
 there. At first they were glad ; but when they had con- 
 sidered every thing, they thought themselves hardly in a 
 better state than if they had gone down the Fall, since 
 they had now no other choice than either to throw them* 
 selves down the same, or perish with hunger ; but hard 
 necessity put them on invention. At the lower end of 
 the island the rock is perpendicular and there is a break in 
 the Fall. The island having plenty of wood, they went to 
 work directly, and made a ladder or shroud of the bark of 
 the linden tree, which is very tough and strong, so long 
 that it would reach to the edge of the water below. One 
 end of this bark ladder they tied fast to a great tree that 
 grew at the side of the rock above the Fall, and let the 
 other end down to the water. So they went down their 
 new-invented stairs ; and when they came to the bottom in 
 the middle of the Fall they rested a little ; and as the water 
 next below the Fall is not rapid, they threw themselves 
 out into it, thinking to swim on shore. Hardly had the 
 Indians began to swim, before the waves of the eddy 
 
156 NOTES. 
 
 threw them with violence against the rock from whence 
 they started. They tried it several times, but at last were 
 weary, and being often thrown against the rock, they were 
 much bruised, and the skin of their bodies torn in many 
 places. So they were obliged to climb up their stairs 
 again to the island, not knowing what to do. After some 
 time they perceived Indians on the opposite shore, to 
 whom they cried out. These pitied them, but gave them 
 little hopes of help ; yet they made haste down to the fort, 
 and told the French commander where two of their 
 brethren were. He persuaded them to try all possible 
 means of relieving the two poor Indians ; and it was done 
 in this manner : The water that runs on the east side of 
 the island is shallow, and breaks in rapids over the rocks. 
 The commandant caused poles to be made and pointed 
 with iron ; two Indians determined to walk to this island 
 by the help of these poles, to save the others or perish. 
 They took leave of their friends, as if they were going to 
 die. Each had two such poles in his hands, to set against 
 the bottom of the stream to keep them steady ; so they 
 went and got to the island, and having given poles to the 
 poor Indians there, they all returned safely to the main 
 shore. The unfortunate creatures had been nine days on 
 the island, and were almost starved to death." 
 
 At the lowest extremity of Goat or Iris Island is a nar- 
 row ridge, called from its shape Hog's Back, from which a 
 fine view of the Central and American Falls, with the 
 river and the whirlpool below, may be had. Upon the 
 rock under the American Fall three profiles of the human 
 
NOTES. 157 
 
 face are found somewhat distinctly perceptible. At the 
 head of the island the wide river appears studded with 
 Grand, Navy, and other islands in the distance, above the 
 Fall. I cannot leave this account of Iris Island, without 
 giving the following extract from a description of it found 
 in " Scenes in my Native Land/' by our gifted countrywo- 
 man, Mrs. Sigotirney : " It is an unspeakable luxury 
 here to sit in solitary meditation, at once lulled and 
 solemnized by the near voice of the everlasting torrent. 
 It seems the most fascinating of all the haunts in this 
 vicinity ; the one where we earliest linger and latest de- 
 part. We take leave of it, as from a being of intelligence 
 to whom we have given our heart. It has shielded us, 
 when our senses were awe-stricken and overpowered, 
 like the cliff where the prophet was hidden when that 
 Majesty passed by which none can ' see and live.' ' 
 PROSPECT or LUNA ISLAND, is next to Iris Island, stand- 
 ing near it, and between it and the main American shore, 
 which, dividing the river, forms the Central Fall on one 
 side towards Iris Island, and the American or Schlosser 
 Fall on the other side towards the main shore. This 
 island is about ninety feet in width, and is a most enchant- 
 ingly retired spot, where formerly the wild eagles in un- 
 disturbed seclusion built their nests. 
 
 On the north side of Iris Island is Moss ISLAND, so 
 called on account of the mossy, velvet appearance of its 
 verdure. It stands among a cluster of islands four in 
 number, although apparently there are only three. The 
 outer islands are called the THREE SISTERS. 
 
158 NOTES* 
 
 All these isolated portions of earth are beautifully pic- 
 turesque in their appearance, and furnish the most varied 
 views of the Falls and their surrounding scenery, to which 
 these add much of beauty. They are the drapery cast 
 around Nature to enhance the loveliness of her noble form, 
 here presented in its grandest features and most striking 
 attitudes. They form the still-life pictures amid the 
 moving diorama of waters. 
 
 NOTE 8. PAGE 33. 
 
 Many of these islands just above the Falls, being former- 
 ly inaccessible except at the great hazard of life, have been 
 connected with the main land by bridges of ingenious con- 
 struction. It was thought by many quite a Quixotic 
 undertaking, to attempt the building of a bridge to Bath 
 Island across the furious rapids that separated it from the 
 main land at a distance of one hundred and fifty feet. 
 But it was successfully done in the following manner. A 
 solid pier was first erected close to the shore, from which 
 long beams were projected, held firmly at their ends upon 
 the pier by heavy weights, and covered with planks, form- 
 ing a temporary bridge. From the opposite ends of these 
 extended beams large stones were cast, to form another 
 pier, until they rose in a pile above the water, where they 
 were secured in the proper shape and solidity, by heavy 
 timbers, well framed, let down to enclose them. These 
 timbers, successively sunk upon one another, and well 
 filled with stones, formed a solid pier. Another section of 
 the bridge was constructed in the same ingenious manner, 
 
NOTES. 151) 
 
 until the whole was completed, at a cost of about two 
 thousand dollars. In the same way, a connection has 
 been made between Bath and Iris Islands, making the 
 whole extent of bridge over those turbulent rapids, forty- 
 four rods. 
 
 NOTE 9. PAGE 34. 
 
 " To provide security fo those who should undesign- 
 edly kill a man, the Lord commanded Moses to appoint 
 six citias of refuge or Asyla, that whoever should have 
 thus spilt blood, might retire thither, and have time to pre- 
 pare his defence before the Judges ; and that the kinsmen 
 of the deceased might not pursue and kill him. Exodus 
 xxi. 13 ; Numbers xxxv. 11, &c. Of such cities there 
 were three on each side of the Jordan. On the west, 
 were Kedesh of Naphtali, Hebron, and Shechem ; on the 
 east, Berer, Golan, and Ramoth-Gilead. Joshua xx. 7, 8. 
 These cities served not only for the Hebrews, but for all 
 strangers that resided in the country. Deut. xix. 1-8. 
 The Lord also commanded, that when the Hebrews should 
 multiply and enlarge their land, they should add three 
 other cities of refuge. As this command was never ful- 
 filled, the rabbins say that the Messiah will accomplish it. 
 
 Maimonides, from the traditions of the ancients, assures 
 us, that all the forty-eight cities, appointed for habitations 
 of the priests and Levites, were also cities of refuge ; and 
 that all the difference between them was, that the six cities 
 appointed by the law, were obliged to receive and lodge 
 
160 NOTES. 
 
 refugees gratis ; whereas the other cities might refuse to 
 admit such as fled to them, and were not obliged to lodge 
 them gratuitously. Besides the cities of refuge, the tem- 
 ple, and especially the altar of burnt-offerings, enjoyed 
 the privilege of an asylum. Those who took sanctuary 
 in the temple were immediately examined by the judges ; 
 and, if found guilty of murder, they were forced away 
 even from the altar, and put to death without the temple. 
 But if found innocent, they had a guard appointed, to con- 
 duct them safely to some city of refuge. . 
 
 The cities of refuge were to be of easy access ; and 
 every year, on the fifteenth of Adar, the magistrates in- 
 spected the roads, to see that they were in good condition, 
 and that there were no impediments. At every division 
 of the road was a direction-post, on which was written, 
 Refuge, Refuge, for the guidance of him who was fleeing 
 for security. They were to be well supplied with water 
 and provisions. It was not allowed to make any weapons 
 there, that the relations of the deceased might not procure 
 arms to gratify their revenge. It was necessary that 
 whoever took refuge there should understand a trade, that 
 he might not be chargeable. They used to send some 
 prudent and moderate persons, to meet those who were 
 pursuing the culprit, in order to dispose them to clemency 
 and forgiveness, and to await the decision of justice. 
 
 At the death of the high-priest, the refugee might quit 
 the city in which he was. But though the man-slayer 
 had fled to the city of refuge, he was not exempt from the 
 power of justice. Numb. xxxv. 12. An information was 
 

 NOTES. 101 
 
 lodged against him ; and he was summoned before the 
 judges and the people, to prove that the murder was truly 
 casual and involuntary. If found innocent, he dwelt 
 safely in the city to which he had retired ; if otherwise, 
 he was put to death according to the law. Scripture is not 
 very express, whether the affair came under the cogni- 
 zance of the judges of the place where the murder was 
 committed, or of the judges of the cities of refuge, to 
 which the murderer had fled. (Comp. Deut. xix. 11, 12 ; 
 Josh. xx. 4, 5, 6 ; Numb. xxxv. 25.) But it appears from 
 the passage of Joshua that the fugitive underwent two 
 trials : first, in the city of refuge, where the judges sum- 
 marily examined the affair; secondly, in his own city, 
 where the magistrates examined the cause more strictly. 
 If the latter judges declared him innocent, they rec on- 
 ducted him, under a guard, to the city of refuge." 
 Calmet's Dictionary, Article REFUGE. 
 
 " Altars and temples afforded an asylum, or place of 
 refuge, among the Greeks and Romans, as among the 
 Jews, chiefly to slaves from the cruelty of their masters, 
 to insolvent debtors and criminals, where it was reckoned 
 impious to touch them, and whence it was unlawful to 
 drag them ; but sometimes they put fire and combustible 
 materials around the place, that the person might appear 
 to be forced away, not by men, but by a god (Vulcan), 
 or shut up the temple and unroofed it, that he might perish 
 under the open air ; hence ara is put for refugium. The 
 triumviri consecrated a chapel to Caesar in the forum, on 
 the place where he was burned, and ordained that no 
 
 8* 
 
16*2 .NOTES. 
 
 person who fled thither for sanctuary should be taken 
 thence to punishment ; a thing which, says Dio, had been 
 granted to no one before, not even to any divinity ; except 
 the asylum of Romulus, which remained only in name, 
 being so blocked up that no one could enter it. But the 
 shrine of Julius was not always esteemed inviolable; 
 the son of Anthony was slain by Augustus, although he 
 fled to it." Adams 1 Roman Antiquities. 
 
 NOTE 10. PAGE 34. 
 
 THE RAPIDS, forming a grand and striking feature in 
 the scenery of Niagara, are produced by the compression 
 of the river to the width of two miles and a half; just 
 below the termination of Grand and Navy Islands ; and 
 by its course for the distance of three quarters of a mile 
 over ledges of rugged rocks, making a descent of fifty-two 
 feet on the American side, and fifty-seven on the Canada 
 side. It is impossible to give an adequate idea of this 
 rushing, boiling tide, that sweeps down, through the islands 
 towards the verge, as if a myriad war-steeds, neighing 
 and panting, were contending with the most intense 
 ferocity. The Rapids form the prelude to the grander 
 displays of the Falls themselves, and viewed alone, are 
 unequal ed in their kind. 
 
 NOTE 11. PAGE 35. 
 
 In the summer of 1841, a Mr. Allen, while crossing 
 the Niagara River, from Chippewa to the American side, 
 
NOTES. 163 
 
 unfortunately broke an oar while in the middle of the 
 stream, being about three miles above the Cataract. His 
 skiff became unmanageable, and was drawn down by the 
 current into the rapids. Having in vain endeavored to 
 steer it with his remaining oar towards Iris Island, he was 
 providentially hurled against one of the islands among the 
 cluster called the Three Sisters, his boat having just be- 
 fore that overturned and filled. Here he was discovered 
 by means of the smoke from a fire he had kindled during 
 the night and was rescued thence by Mr. Joel R. Rob- 
 inson, a daring boatman, who, after one or two failures, 
 succeeded at last in throwing a cord, with a weight at- 
 tached, across the rapids, by which he passed over with 
 his boat, and returned the next morning with the unfortu- 
 nate man. 
 
 While the workmen were repairing the bridge to Iris 
 Island in July, 1839, one of their number, by the name 
 of Chapin, fell from the staging into the rapids below, about 
 one hundred yards from the island. Inevitable death 
 seemed to await him ; for he was being hurried towards 
 the Cataract. But, happily, he was hurled to a small 
 island, among a little group in the midst of the Rapids, 
 whence, notwithstanding the imminent peril of the under- 
 taking, he was rescued by Mr. Robinson, who, for his gal- 
 lant feats of this kind, deserves to have his name immor- 
 talized. 
 
 To the eye of the beholder, such achievements would 
 seem incredible amid such a surging tide. But, one skilled 
 in the management of a boat, and acquainted with the 
 
164 NOTES. 
 
 channels and eddies found there, can, though not without 
 extreme danger and difficulty, perform them. 
 
 NOTE 12. PAGE 38. 
 
 " Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even 1 only, re- 
 main a prophet of the LORD ; but Baal's prophets are 
 four hundred and fifty men. Let them, therefore, give us 
 two bullocks, and let them choose one bullock for them- 
 selves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on .wood, and put no 
 fire under ; and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it 
 on wood, and put no fire under : and call ye on the name 
 of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD ; 
 and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And 
 all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. And 
 Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bul- 
 lock for yourselves, and dress it first ; for ye are many ; 
 and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. 
 And they took the bullock which was given them, and 
 they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morn- 
 ing even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there 
 was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped 
 upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at 
 noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud ; for 
 he is a god: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, ,or he 
 is in a journey, or, peradventure, he sleepeth, and must be 
 awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after 
 their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed 
 out upon them. And it came to pass, when mid-day was 
 
NOTES. 165 
 
 past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of 
 the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any 
 to answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said unto 
 all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people 
 came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the 
 LORD that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve 
 stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of 
 Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, 
 Israel shall be thy name : and with the stones he built an 
 altar in the name of the LORD : and he made a trench 
 about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of 
 seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock 
 in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four bar- 
 rels with water, and pour it on the burnt-sacrifice, and on 
 the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And they 
 did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. 
 And they did it the third time. And the water ran round 
 about the altar ; and he filled the trench also with water. 
 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the eve- 
 ning sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and 
 said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be 
 known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am 
 thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy 
 word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may 
 know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned 
 their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell 
 and consumed the burnt-sacrifice, and the wood, and the 
 stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in 
 the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on 
 
166 NOTES. 
 
 their faces ; and they said, The LORD, he is God ; the 
 LORD, he is God." 1 Kings xviii. 23-39. 
 
 NOTE 13. PAGE 45. 
 
 The Cataract of Niagara presents, in winter, often- 
 times a scene of surpassing grandeur and beauty. Those 
 who have visited it at this season, affirm that its appear- 
 ance is then much more attractive and glorious, in many 
 respects, than in the summer. Upon the occurrence of a 
 thaw sufficient to break up the ice in Lake Erie, it is 
 borne down in masses that fall over the precipice, and be- 
 ing stayed by that which has accumulated below, forms 
 oftentimes a natural bridge across the stream. In Janu- 
 ary of 1842 and 1846, such a bridge was formed. These 
 masses of ice, increased greatly by the congealing of the 
 spray, rise up from the base of the torrent in a bulwark of 
 pyramidal form, almost to the edge of the precipice. At 
 one time, many persons, with long poles to aid them, not 
 only crossed the river and made excursions up and down 
 its course on the solid ice, but actually scaled this bulwark 
 of frost in front of the Fall, within a few feet of its turning 
 point. The ice that formed the bridge itself was once not 
 less than one hundred feet thick, and rose above the natu- 
 ral surface of the water from thirty to forty feet. Huge 
 icicles, formed by an accumulation of frozen spray, hung 
 perpendicularly from the rocks, and a gay frost-work 
 clothed the branches of the trees upon the Islands. In the 
 clear sunlight, these icy walls and decorations, of innu- 
 merable form, glistened with inconceivable beauty. 
 
NOTES. 167 
 
 NOTE 14. PAGE 48. 
 
 The color of the waters around the Falls is a deep, 
 beautiful green, which, contrasted with the frost-white 
 foam that curls along the course of the stream below, pre- 
 sents the appearance of a wind-stirred, verdant lawn, be- 
 strewed with flowers of the purest white. 
 
 NOTE 15. PAGE 48. 
 
 Niagara River, which takes its name from the Falls, 
 is thirty-six miles in length, reaching from Lake Erie to 
 Lake Ontario. It receives the waters of all the upper 
 Lakes, viz., Erie, St. Clair, Huron, Michigan, Superior, 
 and others smaller than these. The St. Louis River, 
 rising 1250 miles north-west of the Falls, and 150 miles 
 west of Lake Superior, is the most remote source of this 
 stream. Its position above the level of the sea is said to 
 be 1200 feet, and in its course towards Lake Ontario, it 
 makes a descent of 551 feet. The lakes and streams for 
 which it is an outlet, cover an area of 150,000 square miles. 
 The length of Lake Superior is 459 miles, its width 100 
 miles, and its depth 900 feet. The Strait of St. Mary, 60 
 miles long, and 45 feet in its descent, conveys the waters 
 of Lake Superior into Lake Huron, which receives besides 
 the waters of nearly forty rivers. Lake Michigan is 300 
 miles long, 50 miles wide, and about 900 feet deep. Its 
 outlet is the Straits of Mackinac, conveying its waters into 
 Lake Huron, a distance of 40 miles. Green Bay, for- 
 merly called the Bay of Puans, is on the north-west side 
 
168 NOTES. 
 
 of Lake Michigan, 100 miles long and 20 miles wide. 
 Lake Huron is 218 miles in length, and 180 miles in 
 width, and about 900 feet deep. Its waters flow into Lake 
 Erie, through the Lake and River St. Clair, and Ihe De- 
 troit River, a distance of 90 miles, with a descent of 31 
 feet. Lake Erie is 290 miles long, 63 miles wide, and 
 120 feet deep. Its level above the sea is 564 feet, and 
 above Lake Ontario 334 feet, which, of course, is the de- 
 scent it makes to the latter. The descent from Lake Erie, 
 wliere the Niagara River commences, to Schlosser, is 12 
 feet ; at the rapids it is 52 feet ; at the Cataract 164 feet ; 
 from this point to Lewiston, 104 feet ; thence to Lake On- 
 tario two feet. 
 
 At Lake Erie, where the Niagara .River commences, 
 its width is about two miles ; and its depth from 20 to 40 
 feet. At Black Rock it is narrowed to a mile, and is, at 
 that point, deep and rapid, moving at the rate of six or 
 eight miles an hour. For three miles its current contin- 
 ues swift, and then its course is slow, and its surface pla- 
 cid, until within one mile of the Falls. At the head of 
 Grand Island, five miles from Lake Erie, it expands, and 
 branches out into two streams, running on either side of 
 this Island, the greatest quantity of water flowing on the 
 west side of the Island, until it measures eight miles across. 
 Below this, opposite Schlosser, it is nearly three miles in 
 width, and appears smooth like the surface of a quiet lake. 
 Its descent from this point to the Falls is 90 feet. At the 
 Falls its width is three-quarters of a mile ; at the Ferry 
 it is 56 rods wide j at the Whirlpool 150 yards wide. Its 
 
 
NOTES. 169 
 
 depth varies, in different places, from 20 to 300 feet ; and 
 just below the Cataract it has never been fathomed. Nia- 
 gara River embraces, in its course, many beautiful islands, 
 the lesser ones of which are Bird Island, situated between 
 Buffalo and Lake Erie ; Square Island, opposite Black 
 Rock, of 131 acres; Strawberry Island, of 100 acres; 
 Beaver Island, of 30 acres ; Rattlesnake Island, of 48 
 acres ; Tonawanda Island, of 69 acres ; Cayuga Island, 
 of 100 acres, nearest to the American shore, four miles 
 above the Falls ; and Buck-horn Island, which is low and 
 marshy, containing 146 acres. 
 
 The two Islands of principal note in this river, are 
 GRAND and NAVF. The former is about twelve miles 
 long, and six miles wide ; commencing seven miles below 
 Lake Erie, and terminating three miles above the Falls. 
 It contains about 17,384 acres of well-timbered land, and 
 has a few inhabitants, who have been engaged principally 
 in preparing its timber for shipping purposes, for which 
 mills have been erected, covering an area of 150 feet 
 square. 
 
 NAVY ISLAND, belonging to Great Britain, lies near the 
 foot of Grand Island, terminating near Chippewa Point. 
 It is one mile long, and half a mile wide, containing 304 
 acres of land. It is noted as the rendezvous of the Cana- 
 dian revolutionists of 1837-8. 
 
 The banks of Niagara River, from Fort Erie on the 
 Canadian shore, at the outlet of Lake Erie, to Chippewa, 
 a distance of eighteen miles, are from four to ten feet high. 
 From Chippewa to the Falls themselves, a distance of two 
 
170 NOTES. 
 
 and a half miles, the bank is from ten to one hundred feet 
 high, the descent of the river being ninety-two feet. 
 From the Falls to Lewiston, a distance of seven miles, 
 the bank varies from one hundred and fifty to three hun- 
 dred feet. From Lewiston to Lake Ontario is seven 
 miles, and in this distance the Northern Terrace, or 
 Mountain Ridge, crosses the course of the river, when 
 the bank diminishes to twenty-five or thirty feet. The 
 gorge through which the Niagara River flows, after leaving 
 the precipice that forms the Cataract,. " presents almost 
 perpendicular walls, with a talus at the bottom, formed 
 by the falling of some of the higher strata. The outlet 
 of the chasm is scarcely wider than elsewhere along its 
 course. In some places the channel is less than two 
 hundred yards across, and again is extended to twice that 
 width. The breadth of the chasm at the top is nearly 
 twice as great as that of the stream below. The declivity 
 of the bed of the river, from the Falls to Lewiston, is one 
 hundred and four feet, or nearly fifteen feet in the mile." 
 " At one place, about a mile below the Falls, where 
 the channel is narrowest, the stream glides with compara- 
 tive stillness, while below this, where the channel is 
 broader, it is driven along with great velocity. Again, 
 below the whirlpool, the surface of the river is more 
 smooth, and the current more gentle, though the channel 
 is narrower than above." "In the course of this gorge, 
 is a single exception to the parallel sides and nearly verti- 
 cal cliffs ; this is upon the west bank of the river at the 
 whirlpool." The width of the gorge at Lewiston is 
 
NOTES . 171 
 
 1500 or perhaps 2000 feet." " In the Niagara chasm 
 there are no boulders, pebbles, or. gravel. The river 
 occupies the whole width, at the bottom, except a talus on 
 either side, formed by angular fragments fallen from 
 above." " From all that appears along the present river 
 course, there was probably an ancient shallow valley 
 extending in the direction of the present Niagara River, 
 which gave the first direction to the waters." Extracts 
 from HaWs Geological Survey of Hie State of New- York. 
 
 NOTE 16. PAGE 51. 
 
 There are many caves found along the banks of the 
 Niagara River, below the Cataract. About a mile below 
 the Falls on the American side, are two caves, one of 
 which presents the appearance that the rocks, over which 
 the American Falls are now precipitated, would present 
 if the waters were suddenly withdrawn. The other and 
 principal cave is a round hollow cavity, from six to eight 
 feet in diameter. It is entered about four feet from the 
 base of the rock, through an aperture just large enough 
 to admit a common-sized man. When first discovered, 
 its roof was covered with beautiful stalactites, and a spring 
 bubbled up from the bottom. It was discovered in 1825 
 by a Mr. Catlin, from whom it derives its name. 
 
 Another cave, called the Giant's Cave, a few rods 
 below the former, is found at an elevation of about ten or 
 fifteen feet from the .base of the cliff. Here also, upon 
 its back and sides, are some stalactite formations. 
 
172 NOTES. 
 
 Bender's Cave, sometimes called Devil's Denj is on 
 the Canada side, above the Whirlpool. Its breadth and 
 depth are about forty feet, and its position about twenty 
 feet from the edge of the bank. For a description of the 
 Cave of the Winds, see Note 18. 
 
 NOTE 17. PAGE 53. 
 
 The melancholy death of Dr. Hungerford, of West 
 Troy, N. Y., occurred in May, 1839. While passing 
 under Hog's Back Point near to the Cave of the Winds, 
 a fragment of the rock overhead was loosened and pre- 
 cipitated below upon him, causing instant death. His 
 companions escaped with slight injury. On examination, 
 his skull upon the back part of his head, and his shoulder, 
 were found to be broken. It is a curious fact, as stated 
 by another, that just previous to his descent beneath the 
 rock, he wrote the lines in his note-book 
 
 " I fear not, I dread not, though cataracts oppose, 
 The rocks that support me, I rend as my foes." 
 
 NOTE 18. PAGE 53. 
 
 The Cave of the Winds, or ^Eolus' Cave as it is called 
 by some, and by others, Ingraham's Cave, from the name 
 of its first discoverer, is found directly under the Central 
 Fall. It is formed by the projection of the rocks from 
 above, over which the water flows. It is nearly one 
 hundred and twenty feet in width, fifty feet in depth, and 
 
NOTES. 173 
 
 over one hundred feet high. In 1834 it was entered with 
 difficulty, since which time it has been made more acces- 
 sible. The winds and spray are said to rush around within 
 the area of this cave in ceaseless agitation. In 1846, a 
 gentleman lost his life in an attempt to explore it ; he was 
 supposed to have been suffocated, being found dead, and 
 lying upon his back in a position not admitting of any con- 
 el usion that an accident of different character had befallen 
 him. 
 
 NOTE 19. PAGE 53. 
 
 At the return of the three great Jewish festivals of the 
 Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, all the 
 adult males among the people of Israel were required to 
 make their appearance at the tabernacle or the temple 
 with their offerings. 
 
 NOTE 20. PAGE 55. 
 
 The MANITOU, or PINNACLE ROCK, is supposed to be a 
 portion of the cliff, at the base of which it lies, thrown 
 down in former times. It is situated about fifty rods above 
 the Whirlpool, at the edge of the river, its shape being 
 that of an inverted cone, with its apex resting upon the 
 summit of another large rock, reaching to the height of 
 nearly one hundred feet from the water's edge. The top 
 of this rock is flat, and covered with moss, and from it a 
 full view of the raging whirlpool below is presented. 
 
 
174 NOTES, 
 
 NOTE 21. PAGE 57. 
 
 The WHIRLPOOL of Niagara, next to the Falls them- 
 selves, is an object of interest worthy of more attention 
 than is usually given to it by visitors in general. It is 
 found at a distance of three miles from the Cataract, where 
 the river makes an acute angle in its course, turning to 
 the right, and boils within a narrower compass than in any 
 other spot, the distance from rock to rock not exceeding 
 two hundred and twenty-five feet. The current of the 
 river here runs with such fierce velocity, that it rises up 
 in the middle ten feet above the sides. On the surface of 
 this whirling vortex are often seen " the ruins of forest 
 floating round, marking out to the eye the outline of that 
 fatal circle. These yellow logs and trunks, grinding 
 against each other, dip and rise, following on in ceaseless 
 round until they waste away in this their winding-sheet. 
 Occasionally some are thrown out, and are borne along in 
 a circuitous route to the rapids, which commence at the 
 outlet of the whirlpool ; a few find a resting-place on the 
 beach, where they present many very grotesque forms, 
 some resembling the boomareng of the New Hollander, 
 others cimeters, rolling-pins, and the like." (Silliman's 
 Journal.) This ever-agitated flood is walled in by a circle 
 of lofty cliffs that, at some points, seem to surround it so 
 completely as not to afford any egress, and one would sup- 
 pose, at first sight, that the tumultuous torrent had its outlet 
 below. The whirlpool is formed of an infinite number of 
 eddies and vortices, continually advancing and receding. 
 
NOTES. 175 
 
 with fluctuating courses and shapes, in which respects it 
 differs from the great Maelstrom of Norway, which is de- 
 scribed by an American Captain, who once navigated a 
 ship from the North Cape to Drontheim, as " an immense 
 circle running round, of a diameter of one and a half 
 miles, the velocity increasing as it approximated towards 
 the centre, and gradually changing its dark blue color to 
 white foaming, tumbling, rushing to its vortex, very much 
 concave, as much so as the water in a funnel, when half 
 
 NOTE 22. PAGE 61. 
 
 " his way in the whirlwind and in the* storm, 
 
 and the clouds are the dust of his feet." Nahum i. 3. 
 
 NOTE 23. PAGE 66. 
 
 " The return of the new moons was announced by the 
 sounding of the silver trumpets (Num. x. 2, 10 ; xxviii. 
 11-14) ; and in this way provision was made for keeping 
 up a knowledge of the end and commencement of each 
 month." John's Archeology. 
 
 " The new moon was always the beginning of the 
 month, and this day they called Neomenia, new-moon day, 
 or new month. They did not begin it from that point of 
 time when the moon was in conjunction with the sun, but 
 from the time at which she became visible after that con- 
 junction. And to determine this, it is said, they had peo- 
 ple posted on elevated places to inform the Sanhedrim as 
 
176 NOTES. 
 
 soon as possible. Proclamation was then made, ' The 
 Feast of the new moon ! The feast of the new moon !' and 
 the beginning of the month was proclaimed by sound of 
 trumpets." Calmet's Dictionary. 
 
 
 NOTE 24. PAGE 68. 
 
 " About fifteen years since, in the glow of early sum- 
 mer, a young stranger, of pleasing countenance and 
 person, made his appearance at Niagara. It was at first 
 conjectured that he might be an artist, as a large portfolio, 
 with books and musical instruments, were observed among 
 his baggage. He was deeply impressed by the majesty 
 and sublimity of the Cataract, and its surrounding scenery, 
 and expressed an intention to remain a week, that he 
 might examine it accurately. But the fascination which 
 all minds of sensibility feel, in the presence of that 
 glorious work of the Creator, grew strongly upon him, 
 and he was heard to say, that six weeks were inadequate 
 to become acquainted with its outlines. 
 
 " At the end of that period, he was still unable to tear 
 himself away, and desired to ' build there a tabernacle,' 
 that he might indulge both in his love of solitary musings 
 and of nature's sublimity. He applied for a spot upon 
 the island of the Three Sisters,' where he might con- 
 struct a cottage after his own model, which comprised, 
 among other peculiarities, isolation by means of a draw- 
 bridge. Circumstances forbidding a compliance with his 
 , he took up his residence in an old house upon 
 
NOTES. 177 
 
 this island, which he rendered as comfortable as the state 
 of the case would admit. Here he continued about twenty 
 months, until the intrusion of a family interrupted his 
 recluse habits. He then quietly withdrew, and reared for 
 himself a less commodious shelter, near Prospect Point. 
 Hip simple and favorite fare of bread and milk was readily 
 purchased, and whenever he required other food, he pre- 
 ferred to prepare it with his own hands. 
 
 " When bleak winter came, a cheerful fire of wood 
 blazed upon his hearth, and by his evening lamp he 
 beguiled the hours with the perusal of books in various 
 languages, and with sweet music. It was almost sur- 
 prising to hear, in such depth of solitude, the long-drawn, 
 thrilling tones of the viol, or the softest melodies of the 
 flute, gushing forth from that low-browed hut, or the 
 guitar, breathing out so lightly, amid the rush and thunder 
 of the never-slumbering tide. 
 
 " Yet, though the world of letters was familiar to his 
 mind, and the living world to his observation, for he had 
 travelled widely, both in his native Europe, and the East, 
 he sought not association with mankind, to unfold or to 
 increase his stores of knowledge. Those who had heard 
 him converse, spoke with surprise and admiration of his 
 colloquial powers, his command of language, and the 
 spirit of eloquence that flowed from his lips. But he 
 seldom and sparingly admitted this intercourse, studiously 
 avoiding society, though there seemed in his nature no- 
 thing of moroseness or misanthropy. On the contrary, 
 he showed kindness even to the humblest animal. Birds 
 
 9 
 
178 NOTES. 
 
 instinctively learned it, and freely entered his dwelling, 
 to receive from his hands crumbs or seeds. 
 
 " But the absorbing delight of his existence, was com- 
 munion with the mighty Niagara. Here, at every hour 
 of the day or night, he might be seen a fervent worshipper. 
 At gray dawn he went to visit it in its fleecy veil ; at 
 high noon, he banqueted on the full splendor of its glory ; 
 beneath the soft tinting of the lunar bow, he lingered, 
 looking for the angel's wing whose pencil had painted it ; 
 at solemn midnight, he knelt, soul-subdued, as on the foot- 
 stool of Jehovah. Neither storms, nor the piercing cold 
 of winter, prevented his visits to this great temple of his 
 adoration. 
 
 " When the frozen mists, gathering upon the lofty 
 trees, seemed to have transmuted them to columns of 
 alabaster; when every branch, and shrub, and spray, 
 glittering with transparent ice, waved in the sunbeam its 
 coronet of diamonds, he gazed, unconscious of the keen 
 atmosphere, charmed and chained by the rainbow-cinc- 
 tured Cataract. His feet had worn a beaten path from his 
 cottage thither. There was, at that time, an extension of 
 the Terrapin Bridge by a single shaft of timber, carried 
 out ten feet over the fathomless abyss, where it hung 
 tremulously, guarded only by a rude parapet. 
 
 " To this point he often passed and repassed, amid the 
 darkness of night. He even took pleasure in grasping it 
 with his hands, and thus suspending himself over the 
 awful gulf; so much had his morbid enthusiasm learned 
 to feel, and even to revel, amid the terribly sublime. 
 
NOTES. 179 
 
 " Among his favorite, daily gratifications, was that of 
 bathing. The few who interested themselves in his wel- 
 fare, supposed that he pursued it to excess, and protracted 
 it after the severity of the Weather rendered it hazardous 
 to health. 
 
 " He scooped out, and arranged for himself, a secluded 
 and romantic bath, between Moss and Iris islands. After- 
 wards, he formed the habit of bathing below the principal 
 Fall. One bright, but rather chill day, in the month of 
 June, 1831, a man employed about the Ferry, saw him go 
 into the water, and a long time after, observed his clothes 
 to be still lying upon the bank* 
 
 " Inquiry was made. The anxiety was but too well 
 founded. The poor hermit had indeed taken his last bathi 
 It was supposed that cramp might have been induced by 
 the unwonted chill of the atmosphere or water. Still the 
 body was not found, the depth and force of the current just 
 below being exceedingly great. 
 
 " In the course of their search, they passed onward to 
 the Whirlpool. There, amid those boiling eddies, was 
 the pallid corse, making fearful and rapid gyrations upon 
 the face of the black waters. At some point of suction, it 
 suddenly plunged and disappeared. Again emerging, it 
 was fearful to see it leap half its length above the flood, 
 and with a face so deadly pale, play among the tossing 
 billows, then float motionless, as if exhausted, and anon 
 returning to the encounter, spring, struggle, and contend 
 like a maniac battling with mortal foes. 
 
 " It was strangely painful to think that he was not per* 
 
180 NOT fig. 
 
 mitted to find a grave, even 'beneath tile Waters he had 
 loved ; that all the gentleness and charity of his nature, 
 should be changed by death to the fury of a madman ; 
 and that the king of terrors, who brings repose to the 
 despot, and the man of blood, should teach warfare to him 
 who had ever worn the meekness of the lamb. For days 
 and nights this terrible purgatory was prolonged. It was 
 on the twenty-first of June, that, after many efforts, they 
 were enabled to bear the weary dead back to his desolate 
 cottage. 
 
 There they found his faithful dog guarding the door. 
 Heavily the long period had worn away, while he 
 Watched for his only friend and wondered why he delayed 
 his coming. He scrutinized the approaching group sus- 
 piciously, and would not willingly have given them admit- 
 tance, save that a low, stifled wail at length announced his 
 intuitive knowledge of the master, whom the work of death 
 had effectually disguised from the eyes of men. 
 
 They laid him on his bed, the thick, dripping masses of 
 his beautiful hair clinging to, and veiling the features so 
 late expressive and comely. On the pillow was his pet 
 kitten ; to her, also, the watch for the master had been 
 long and wearisome. 
 
 In his chair lay the guitar, whose melody was proba- 
 bly the last that his ear had heard on earth. There were 
 also his flute and violin, his portfolio and books, scattered 
 and open, as if recently used. On the spread table was 
 the untasted meal for noon, which he had prepared against 
 his return from that bath which had proved so fatal. It 
 
% NOTES. 181 
 
 was a touching sight ; the dead hermit mourned by his 
 humble retainers, the poor animals who loved him, and 
 ready to be laid by stranger-hands in a foreign grave. 
 
 So fell this singular and accomplished being, at the 
 early age of twenty-eight. Learned in the languages, in 
 the arts and sciences, improved by extensive travel, gifted 
 with personal beauty, and a feeling heart, the motives for 
 this estrangement from his kind are still enveloped in 
 mystery. It was, however, known that he was a native 
 of England, where his father was a clergyman ; that he 
 received from thence ample remittances for his comfort j 
 and that his name was Francis Abbot. These facts had 
 been previously ascertained, but no written papers were 
 found in his cell, to throw additional light upon the obscu- 
 rity in which he had so effectually wrapped the history of 
 his pilgrimage. 
 
 That he was neither an ascetic nor a misanthrope, has 
 been sufficiently proved. Why he should choose to with- 
 draw from society, which he was so well fitted to benefit 
 and adorn, must ever remain unexplained. That no crime 
 had driven him thence, his blameless and pious life bore 
 witness to all who knew him. 
 
 It might seem that no plan of seclusion had been 
 deliberately formed, until enthusiastic admiration of the 
 unparalleled scenery among which he was cast, induced 
 and for two years had given it permanence. And if any 
 one could' be justified for withdrawing from life's active 
 duties, to dwell awhile with solitude and contemplation, 
 
182 NOTES. 
 
 would it not be in a spot like this, where Nature ever 
 speaks audibly of her majestic and glorious Author ? 
 
 " We visited, in the summer of 1844, the deserted 
 abode of the hermit. It was partially ruinous, but we 
 traced out its different compartments, and the hearth-stone 
 where his winter evenings passed amid books and music, 
 his faithful dog at his feet, and on his knee his playful, 
 happy kitten. 
 
 " At our entrance, a pair of nesting birds flew forth 
 affrighted. Methought they were fitting representatives 
 of that gentle spirit, which would not have disturbed their 
 tenantry, or harmed the trusting sparrow. If that spirit 
 had endured aught from man, which it might neither re- 
 cover nor reveal ; if the fine balance of the intellect had 
 borne pressure until it was injured or destroyed ; we 
 would not stand upon the sufferer's grave to condemn, but 
 to pity. 
 
 "We would think with tenderness of thee, erring 
 and lonely brother. For at the last day, when the secrets 
 of all are unveiled, it will be found that there are sadder 
 mistakes to deplore than thine ; time wasted idly, but not 
 innocently and talents perverted, without the palliation 
 of a virtuous life, the love of Nature, or the fear of God." 
 
 It is needless to add to this graphic description of the 
 Hermit, given by Mrs. Sigourney in her " Scenes in my 
 Native Land," that the story presented in the Poem is 
 a mere fiction, designed to illustrate certain themes it 
 contains. 
 
NOTES. 183 
 
 NOTE 25. PAGE 71. 
 
 The reader of the Bible will recognize the language of 
 Job, found in chapter second of that book, as here para- 
 phrased to the extent of about thirty lines. The language 
 of Scripture has also been borrowed in many subsequent 
 portions, to much of which special reference need not be 
 made in these Notes. 
 / 
 
 NOTE 26. PAGE 91. 
 
 " There is one fact connected with dreams which is 
 highly remarkable time, in fact, seems to be in a great 
 measure annihilated. An extensive period is reduced, as 
 it were, to a single point, or rather a single point is made 
 to embrace an extensive period. In one instant, we pass 
 through many adventures, see many strange sights, and 
 hear many strange sounds. If we are awaked by a loud 
 knock, we have perhaps the idea of a tumult passing before 
 us, and know all the characters engaged in it their as- 
 pects, and even their very names. If the door open vio- 
 lently, the floodgates of a canal may appear to be expand- 
 ing, and we may see the individuals employed in the 
 process, and hear their conversation, which may seem an 
 hour in length. If a light be brought into the room, the 
 notion of the house being in flames perhaps invades us, and 
 we are witnesses to the whole conflagration, from its com- 
 mencement till it be finally extinguished. The thoughts 
 which arise in such situations are endless, and assume an 
 
184 NOTES. 
 
 infinite variety of aspects. The whole, indeed, constitutes 
 one of the strangest phenomena of the human mind, and 
 calls to recollection the story of the Eastern monarch, who, 
 on dipping his head into the magician's water-pail, fancied 
 he had travelled for years in various nations, although he 
 was only immersed for a single instant. This curious 
 psychological fact, although occurring under somewhat 
 different circumstances, has not escaped the notice of Mr. 
 De Quincey, better known as the ' English Opium-eater/ 
 1 The sense of space,' says he, ' and, in the end, the sense 
 of time, were both powerfully affected. Buildings, land- 
 scapes, &c. were both exhibited in proportions so vast 
 ihat the bodily eye is not fitted to receive. Space swelled, 
 and was amplified to an extent of unutterable infinity. 
 This, however, did not disturb me so much as the expan- 
 sion of time. I sometimes seemed to have lived for seventy 
 or a hundred years in one night ; nay, sometimes had 
 feelings representative of a millennium passed in that time, 
 or, however, of a duration beyond the limits of any human 
 experience.' It is more easy to state the fact of this appa- 
 rent expansion of time in dreams, than to give any theory 
 which will satisfactorily account for it. I believe that, 
 whenever it occurs, the dream has abounded in events and 
 circumstances which, had they occurred in reality, would 
 have required a long period for their accomplishment. 
 For instance, I lately dreamed that I made a voyage to 
 India remained some days in Calcutta then took ship for 
 Egypt, where I visited the Cataracts of the Nile and the 
 Pyramids ; and, to crown the whole, had the honor of an 
 
NOTES. 185 
 
 interview with Mehemet Ali, Cleopatra, and the Sultan 
 Saladin. All this was the work of a single night, probably 
 of a single hour, or even a few minutes ; and yet it ap- 
 peared to occupy many months." Macnistis Philosophy 
 of Sleep. 
 
 NOTE 27. PAGE 92. 
 
 The beautiful custom, prevailing in England, of deco- 
 rating the heads of those who have died in infancy and 
 youth with garlands of fresh flowers, as a preparation for 
 burial, is thus touchingly alluded to by Mrs. Hemans : 
 
 Bring flowers, pale flowers, o'er the bier to shed 
 
 A crown for the brow of the early dead ! 
 
 For this through its leaves hath the white-rose burst, 
 
 For this in the woods was the violet nursed. 
 
 Though they smile in vain for what once was ours, 
 
 They are love's last gifts bring ye flowers, pale flowers. 
 
 NOTE 28. PAGE 105. 
 
 The preceding twenty lines in this Hymn of Praise 
 are, as nearly as possible, a literal rendering, in measured 
 verse, of the one hundred and forty-eighth Psalm. 
 
 NOTE 29. PAGE 110. 
 
 Table Rock is a prominent portion of the precipice over 
 which the waters of Niagara once undoubtedly flowed. It 
 is a projection of forty or fifty feet beyond the general line 
 
186 NOTES. 
 
 of the bank, forming a cavity which, being extended un- 
 derneath the Cataract flowing within a few feet on the same 
 level, forms a lofty and wide area, to which an entrance 
 has been effected by the descent of a stairway. This 
 Rock is one hundred and sixty feet high, its width corre- 
 sponding very nearly with the distance of its projection. 
 It was formerly of greater magnitude than it now is ; a 
 large portion of it, said to be one hundred and sixty feet in 
 length and from thirty to forty feet broad, having fallen in 
 1818. Smaller fragments fell in 1828 and '29; and the 
 whole mass is expected ere long to give way, as a deep 
 fissure, extending back into the rock, is seen. The view of 
 the Falls from this point is unsurpassed by that from any 
 other, as it presents the whole scene of Niagara to the 
 view at one instant of time, completely filling the field of 
 vision, and giving the full impress of its grandeur and 
 beauty to the mind. 
 
 The impressiveness of the scene behind the immense 
 sheet of the principal Cataract, will fully repay for the 
 peril and discomfort attending upon a visit to it. The 
 pendent roof of rock above, the arching waters, and the 
 abyss of foam below, are objects that awaken emotions the 
 sublimity of which is sometimes oppressive, and yet always 
 pleasingly awful. 
 
 NOTE 30. PAGE 115. 
 
 ORION, one of the brightest constellations of the 
 southern hemisphere, near the foot of Taurus or the Bull. 
 Chesil, the original Hebrew term, signifies, according to 
 

 NOTES. 187 
 
 the ancient Hebrews, that star of the second magnitude 
 which astronomers called the Scorpion's heart. It appears 
 at the beginning of the autumnal equinox, and forebodes 
 frost or cold. Virgil calls it Nimbosus Orion. De 
 Goquet supposes that Chesil, signifying " cold," must have 
 meant the constellation Scorpio, which introduced winter 
 in the days of Job ; a supposition most probable, as in the 
 days of that patriarch the constellation Orion rose helia- 
 cally in the middle of June, whereas Scorpio did not rise 
 till the end of October. 
 
 ARCTURTJS is a fixed star of the first magnitude, near 
 the tail of Ursa Major or the Great Bear, between the 
 thighs of Bootes, the constellation Arcto-phylax. It is in 
 the northern hemisphere towards the pole, and rises about 
 the twelfth of September, and sets about the twenty- fourth 
 of May, and has been thought seldom to appear without 
 bringing a storm. 
 
 The Pleiades or Seven Stars form a cluster in the 
 neck or shoulder of the constellation Taurus or the Bull, 
 anciently in the tail. This group is situated about 14 
 westward of the star Aldebaran. The Pleiades marked 
 out the east quarter and the spring season. Job gives 
 them the Hebrew name Chimah, the sweet influences 
 of Chimah, because of the agreeableness of the spring 
 season. 
 
 That the course of the stars influenced the seasons, 
 in the opinion of the ancients, is well known ; whence 
 Pliny says (Lib. II. Cap. 39) "Arcturus seldom rises 
 without bringing hail and tempests;" and (Lib. XVIII. 
 
188 NOTES. 
 
 Cap. 28) " The evils which the heavens send us are of 
 two kinds : that is to say, tempests which produce hail, 
 storms, and other like things, which is called Vis Major, 
 and which are caused, as I have often said, by dreadful 
 stars, such as Arcturus, Orion and the Kids." The 
 ancients, however, were mistaken in this notion, for the 
 stars only marked that time of the year when such things 
 might naturally be expected. 
 
 It is generally reckoned that only six stars can be 
 distinctly counted in this group (the Pleiades) by common 
 eyes, but that originally they consisted of seven, which 
 every one could easily perceive, and it has therefore been 
 conjectured that one of them has long since disappeared. 
 To this circumstance Ovid, who lived in the time of our 
 Saviour, alludes in these lines : 
 
 " Now rise the Pleiades, those nymphs so fair, 
 Once seven numbered, now but six there are." 
 
 In fabulous history it is said that these stars were the 
 seven daughters of Atlas and the nymph Pleione, named 
 Alcione, Merope, Maia, Electra, Tayeta, Sterope, and 
 Celino, who were turned into stars, with their sisters the 
 Hyades, on account of their mutual affection and amiable 
 virtues ; and that the star Merope, one of the Atlantides, 
 appears more dim and obscure than the rest, or is alto- 
 gether extinguished, because, as the poets fancy, she 
 married a mortal, while her sisters married some of the 
 gods or their descendants. Dr. Long, however, declares 
 that he himself had more than once seen seven stars in 
 
 
NOTES, 189 
 
 this group ; and a learned astronomical friend assured 
 him that he had seen eight stars among the Pleiades, 
 where common eyes can discover but six ; and Kepler 
 says of his tutor. Msestlinus, that " he could reckon four- 
 teen stars in the Pleiades without any glasses." This 
 difference in the number seen by different persons in this 
 group, is obviously owing to the different degrees of acute- 
 ness of vision possessed by the respective individuals. 
 However small the number perceived by the naked eye, 
 the telescope shows them to be a pretty numerous assem- 
 blage. Dr. Hook, formerly professor of geometry in 
 Gresham College, informs us that directing his twelve-feet 
 telescope (which could magnify only about seventy times) 
 to the Pleiades, he did, in that small compass, count seven- 
 ty-eight stars ; and making use of longer and more perfect 
 telescopes, he discovered a great many more of different 
 magnitudes. Calmet ; Brown's Antiquities of the Jews ; 
 Dick's Sidereal Heavens. 
 
 NOTE 31. PAGE 117. 
 
 The aborigines of our country viewed the Cataract of 
 Niagara with religkms veneration, as if it were a true 
 Divinity. A party of Indians being brought thither on 
 their return to the West, from the seat of government, 
 displayed their adoration to the Great Spirit of the Fall 
 by casting their pipes, wampum, and different trinkets, 
 into the flood. 
 
190 NOTES, 
 
 NOTE 32. PAGE 122, 
 
 The reader is referred to the eighteenth Psalm, and to 
 different passages of the Book of Revelation, for the 
 original materials out of which a great portion of this 
 " Requiem of the Flood" is composed. 
 
 The RECESSION of Niagara Falls has been made a 
 subject of much curious speculation among scientific 
 men of late. As it may not be uninteresting to some 
 readers to peruse their observations upon this point, they 
 are here presented as taken from Hall's Geological Sur- 
 vey, and an article lately found in a British publication. 
 
 " The most superficial observers unavoidably contem- 
 plate the deep channel of seven miles as the work of the 
 river itself; and the idea receives confirmation of the 
 most decided kind from the fact, that the waterfall is con- 
 tinually, though slowly, wearing away the rock. The 
 common belief of the country people therefore is, that the 
 fall was originally at Queenstown, and will in time get 
 back to Lake Erie, which will consequently be emptied, 
 and become dry land." 
 
 " This is a subject on which many speculations have 
 been hazarded, but no one appears to have undertaken the 
 calculation with a full knowledge of the geology of the 
 district, or to have taken into account the many disturbing 
 influences. At the present time the cliff over which the 
 water is precipitated, is nearly equally divided between 
 
NOTES. 191 
 
 thick-bedded limestone and soft disintegrating shale. It 
 is by the action of the spray from the falling water upon 
 the shale, undermining and leaving the limestone unsup- 
 ported, which falls down by its own weight, that the falls 
 recede from their present position. Now if we believe 
 the statements of those who have resided at the Falls, the 
 recession has been about fifty yards within the last forty 
 years ; but from all the data I have been able to obtain, 
 this appears to be much too great an estimate ; indeed it 
 is extremely questionable if the Fall has receded as many 
 feet within that time. The central portion of the Horse- 
 shoe Fall recedes more rapidly than any other part, for 
 here the greatest force of the river is exerted. We know 
 likewise, from the testimony of all residents at this place, 
 that the American Fall is becoming more curved in its out- 
 line, whereas formerly it was nearly in a straight line. 
 The successive descent of large masses of limestone, and 
 the still continued overhanging of the table rock, prove 
 very conclusively the unremitting action of water and air 
 upon the shale below." 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 A few errors escaped the vigilance of the proof-reader, which the author, residing 
 at a distance from the press, was unable to correct. Those which are not so palpable 
 as to be readily understood by the reader, are the following : 
 
 Page 30, second line from bottom, the hyphen should be omitted between ear and 
 bedient. 
 
 Page 37, fourth line from top, shall ought to be substituted for should. 
 Page 40, fourth line from top, read once for now. 
 Page 44, fifteenth line from bottom, though for through. 
 
 Page 48, eighth and ninth lines from top, place a comma after success, and a semi- 
 colon after soul. 
 
 Page 55, first line from top, for 
 
 The soil round which, &c., read 
 Ground whose walls the deep-duff, &c. 
 Also, eleventh line from bottom, for summits read summit. 
 Page 59, eleventh line from bottom, for on read or. 
 Page 84, fourth line from top, for the second thou read their. 
 Page 101, fifteenth line from bottom, for each read earth. 
 Page 115, eighth line from top, for light read lights. 
 Also, twelfth line from top, for threads of light, read threads of gold. 
 Page 117, thirteenth line from top, for make read may. 
 fe Page 130, third line from top, for o/read oft. 
 
 Page 135, second line from top, for Casich read Cusich. 
 Also, fifth line from bottom, read toward the north. 
 Also, seventh line from bottom, read toward the south. 
 
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