Page:Poems Sigourney, 1834.pdf/14



River! not unknown to classic song;— Which still in varying beauty roll'st along, Where first thy infant fount is faintly seen, A line of silver 'mid a fringe of green; Or where near towering rocks thy bolder tide To win the giant-guarded pass doth glide; Or where in azure mantle pure and free Thou giv'st thy cool hand to the fervent sea.

Though broader streams our sister realms may boast, Herculean cities, and a prouder coast, Yet from the bound where hoarse St. Lawrence roars To where La Plata rocks resounding shores, From where the arms of slimy Nilus shine, To the blue waters of the rushing Rhine, Or where Ilissus glows like diamond spark, Or sacred Ganges whelms her votaries dark, No brighter skies the eye of day may see, Nor soil more verdant, nor a race more free.

See! where amid their cultured vales they stand, The generous offspring of a simple land;