Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
America: Vols. XXV–XXIX. 1876–79. | | | | Middle States: Niagara, the River | | Niagara | | Christopher Pearse Cranch (1813–1892) |
| | (Excerpt)
I STOOD within a vision’s spell; | |
| I saw, I heard. The liquid thunder | |
| Went pouring to its foaming hell, | |
| And it fell, | |
| Ever, ever fell | 5 |
| Into the invisible abyss that opened under. | |
| |
| I stood upon a speck of ground; | |
| Before me fell a stormy ocean. | |
| I was like a captive bound; | |
| And around | 10 |
| A universe of sound | |
| Troubled the heavens with ever-quivering motion. | |
| |
| Down, down forever—down, down forever, | |
| Something falling, falling, falling, | |
| Up, up forever—up, up forever, | 15 |
| Resting never, | |
| Boiling up forever, | |
| Steam-clouds shot up with thunder-bursts appalling, | |
| |
| A tone that since the birth of man | |
| Was never for a moment broken, | 20 |
| A word that since the world began, | |
| And waters ran, | |
| Hath spoken still to man,— | |
| Of God and of Eternity hath spoken. * * * * * | |
| And in that vision, as it passed, | 25 |
| Was gathered terror, beauty, power; | |
| And still, when all has fled, too fast, | |
| And I at last | |
| Dream of the dreamy past, | |
| My heart is full when lingering on that hour. | 30 | | | |
|
|
