Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/36

 20 HISTORICAL SKETCH. " Lo ! bursting on the astonished view, What landscapes, vast, and rich, and new, Are yours to boast ! What mountains lift their heads on high ! What lakes in boundless prospect lie ! What rivers roll their volumes by. To yonder coast ! "In no department of the globe Does Flora wear a richer robe, Of brighter dyes : Here, in the long career of Time, Nature still reigns in youthful prime. And objects beauteous, vast, sublime, Around her rise. " Far westward, where the sun's last rays Fire the wide landscape with a blaze Of dazzling gold, Huge mountains rear their giant forms On high amid the wint'ry storms. And. reaching wide their thousand arms, A world infold. " There, seated on his rocky throne, Enwrapt in clouds, supreme, alone, Where tempests blow, The mighty Genius of the West Hurls forth his storms : at his behest The thunders rage, or slumbering rest. To all below. " He looks around with kingly pride : Far eastward sees, expanded wide. Vast rivers pour ; Far northward, arctic tempests rave ; Far southward, golden harvests wave ; Far westward, ocean's billows lave Columbia's shore. " How long the war-whoop, round the peak Of these huge mountains, high and bleak, Responsive rung ! How long those granite rocks have stood ! How long has roared that headlong flood ! How long has bloomed and died that wood ! — By bards unsung. " Nor are their beauties wholly fled. Now that the white man's restless tread Disturbs the gloom — A gloom which swift before him flies, As meadows open to the skies. As forests fall, and cities rise. And harvests bloom. " Behold, far north, yon inland seas ! Now calm, unruffled by a breeze. They silent sleep ; Now heave on high the mountain-surge, And wave on wave tremendous urge. And man and shattered navies merge Beneath the deep. " There, 'mid the solitude profound. With boundless forests closed around, From age to age. Untutored red men plied the oar, Ferocious wild beasts trod the shore. And tempests swept their bosoms o'er With boisterous rage. " Anon, their placid, crystal wave To all a faithful mirror gave. Above, around : There one might see the inverted skies. See constellations set and rise. Enlightening with their diamond-eyes The vast profound. " There, unobserved by bard or sage, For many an unrecorded age. The fairy-band, In cars of softest moonlight made. Drove o'er the deep ; or, jocund, played Where groves adorned with light and shade The adjacent land. " But softly — hark ! the white man's tread — And all the fairy vision's fled ! Lo ! on the sight Bursts a new scene, which ne'er can fail To rouse your pride while navies sail, And squadrons o'er the foe prevail In equal fight. " See, far and wide, ten thousand rills, Forth issuing from unnumbered hills. Through val'es and woods ; Now gliding gently from their source. Now gathering strength along their course, Now rushing with resistless force To kindred floods. " See, in one channel broad and deep. The congregated torrent sweep. Which, stretching far O'er many a wide-extended plain, Resolves its empu-e to maintain, And wages with its parent-main Eternal war.