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 howlings wild,
At last they turn and drink each other's blood.

Ye streams that laved my ever-thirsting lips!

Ye lakes that poured your treasures in my lap!

Thou sea returning

Where are ye all?

of

my waters loaned!

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!
Death's fever rages in my heated brow,
And turns to vapor damps that linger there!
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!
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

1

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 save 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,

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.