The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery :: :: University of Virginia Library

In slumber, when some dream of daring night
Transcends creation, or out-dazzles earth,
Man's wither'd paradise may seem revived;
And oft when Poesy and young Romance
Imagination's throne together mount,—
What landscapes, fit for Seraphim to walk,
In the green loveliness of Nature's youth
Beneath their fascinating smile have bloom'd!
And yet, no dreaming pomp nor bardic spell
Can rival thee, by God himself array'd
With glory terrible, and beauty wild,
Thou earth-adorning Cataract!—once seen,
And seen for ever: heard by sense for once,
And in the spirit heard for evermore!

When, like some vision of a ruin'd world,
In foaming majesty I saw thee fall
From crag to crag terrifically swift,
My soul was hush'd, in trance of wonder bound;
A word was outrage! mute as thought, I gazed
Upon thee, vanquish'd by the dread sublime:
As in the presence of Almighty spells,
My being trembled: language was extinct!

Aloft, aloft, precipitate and loud,
The plunging torrent like a war-horse leaps
Adown the black ravine! and white with rage
And thunderingly hoarse, the headlong-wave
From rock to rock in froth and foam careers,
In tameless terrible, unwearied ire
For ever raving! Hark! the mountain thrills
And throbs, the leaflets palpitate with awe;
The branches quiver like the limbs of fear
On each grey elm; while, floating like the breath
Of conscious being, lo! the mist ascends
In tremor from yon panting surge below,
Lingers awhile, in airy balance hung,
Then trembles downward with a quavering fall
In rain-drops delicate as tears unshed.

King of stern waterfalls! thine awe pervades
And like the genius of romance creates
A spirit of enchantment round thy home:
The valley, hush'd as Desolation, loves;
The gloom chaotic of thine ancient hills
Torn by the tempest's savage wing, and deck'd
With foliage, touch'd by autumn's pale decay;
And drip of water, from the rocks dissolved
In feeble music, faint as dream-heard sighs,—
All these in one vast sentiment unite
Around thee, making sight and sound appeal
Like poetry, from Nature's heart evoked.

And while, with contemplation's spell-bound eyes,
Amid the spray, the thunder and the din,
Monarch of Waters! upon thee I gazed,
The witchery of deep association rose.—
On myriads, now in earth and darkness mute,
I ponder'd, who, like me, had feasted soul
And sense, and drank emotions rich as mine
From thine enchantment. Here the worldling came

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And left, perchance, his worldliness behind;
Here Pride, Ambition, Avarice, and Hate,
Those Demons of the mind, their sceptres broke,
And shrunk, like Satan from the Saviour's word,
By thee o'erawed! and here the Poet dreamt
While sentiment and thought his heart o'er-whelm'd
With magic potency, till he became
Sublime in thy sublimity of scene!
And from the centre of his spirit felt
Warm inspiration, like a sunrise, break,
And meanings, full of worldless beauty, flow.

Farewell! thou roaring flood of Scynfa born,
In loud monotony of roaring ire
Rage on for ever! rule all hearts and eyes
Which bow before thee: Teacher of the wild
And wondrous! may thy voice eternal be,
And speak of HIM Whose Shadow is the sun,
Whom torrent, sea, and tempest loudly praise;
Whose Love by every breeze is syllabled
While, seated on Eternity's vast throne,
He wields His sceptre o'er ten thousand worlds!

Farewell! thou glory of a glorious Clime,
Farewell, the sight, but not farewell the sense
Of thee:—since in the core of memory's heart
The true dominion of thy scene will dwell;
And oft amid the dust of daily Life,
Or prose of dry existence, will beget
Sensations high, and feelings nobly-pure:
Or, wafted back on fancy's sun-bright wing,
My soul will visit thee, and hear again
The thundering harmonies of thy dread stream,
Like a huge wave in endless plunge and roar,
And own the Almighty by His work revealed!