Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/37

 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 21 " As marching on its course sublime, " Or Autumn through the orchard strews. Through what a vast extent of clime And native woods, with hand profuse. Its waters glide ! His ripened fruit ; From where the eastern mountains rise, As Flora captivates your eyes, From those that meet the western skies. With all her gay and sober dyes. From where the lakes attract our eyes, And the wild game in terror flies To ocean's tide ! The close pursuit : " To seek a stream so long and deep. " Or Winter from his store-house throws That flows with such resistless sweep, O'er fields and woods his fleecy snows ; Where turn our eyes ? As his cold breath The Danube, Ganges, Nile, and Rhine, Whistles among the branches bare. Were all their volumes to combine. Stills the sweet songsters of the air, This noble stream would scarce outshine And nips each herb and floweret fair For length and size. With instant death : " How long, through ages past and gone, " Whether bright Morn o'er wood and lawn Its waters flowed unheeded on ; Spreads the first blushes of the dawn, As through the dark, With rosy hand ; Unbounded forest's gloomy shade. As through the air her sweets difi"use. In quest of game the Indian strayed, And from exhaustless mines she strews Or on its surface, sportive, played Ten thousand gems of crystal dews His simple bark ! O'er all the land : " And still enchanting is the scene ; " Or Noon sends forth the sultry hours Now, orchards, fields, and meadows green To scathe the choicest fruits and flowers ; Are spreading wide ; As Phoebus now Now, Art and Science, hand in hand. With undiminished radiance glows, Walk forth ; and, at their joint command. And no decrease of fervor knows, Roads, bridges, cities grace the land. Till Eve her dusky mantle throws And ships, the tide. O'er Nature's brow : " These mountains, valleys, lakes, and woods — " Or gloomy Night extends o'er all These rills that glide, and cataract-floods The slumbering world her blackest pall ; That sweep along. As from her seat, To you are grand and fruitful themes. In ether fixed, she views the whole — Gild these with Fancy's brightest beams, The countless orbs that o'er her roll, And wrap them in the wildest dreams And land and sea, from pole to pole, Of fairy-song. Beneath her feet : " For whether Spring, with warmth and showers. " Whether abroad the tempest lowers. Gives to the trees, and shrubs, and flowers, The lightnings flash, and thunder roars Another birth ; With deafening sound : As zephyrs on light pinions move, Or Nature's face is calm and fair. And warblers vocalize each grove And all that live their joys declare, With songs of gratitude and love. And fragrance through the balmy air Or sportive mirth : Is breathing round : — " Or Summer darts his radiance warm. " Nay, view it in what state you will, And every vegetative form This Eden breathes enchantment still. Is blooming fair ; Delighted here As rills and rivers cease to flow. Fays, Sylphs, and Genii oft preside. As ardent suns resistless glow, Unseen, on airy pinions glide. And breezes scarcely seem to blow — And watch and guard the landscape wide, So calm the air : Through all the year.