 | Nacoochee ; or, the beautiful star, with other Poems |  |
92
ODE TO THE MISSISSIPPI.
Thou “Father of Waters!” thou million in one!
Oh! speak from the North where thy travels begun,
And tell me the first with thyself to unite,
Who walked down the valley like lovers at night,
Till thou, with thy freedom majestic and deep,
Bestrode like an emperor walking in sleep.
Oh! speak from the North where thy travels begun,
And tell me the first with thyself to unite,
Who walked down the valley like lovers at night,
Till thou, with thy freedom majestic and deep,
Bestrode like an emperor walking in sleep.
And where is the strength that can sever the bands
That bind them in union from far distant lands?
So strange in complexion, in climate, and light,
Like soldiers enlisted for Freedom to fight!
Who started their marching ere Adam was born,
And never shall stop till Eternity's morn.
That bind them in union from far distant lands?
So strange in complexion, in climate, and light,
Like soldiers enlisted for Freedom to fight!
Who started their marching ere Adam was born,
And never shall stop till Eternity's morn.
Thus endless, majestic, supreme, and divine!
They never grow callous by age or decline!
But ever uniting and shaking of hands,
They walk down in love through the low valley-lands;
And however strange in complexion at sight,
They always commingle and ever unite.
They never grow callous by age or decline!
But ever uniting and shaking of hands,
They walk down in love through the low valley-lands;
And however strange in complexion at sight,
They always commingle and ever unite.
'Tis strange that so many should flow into one,
And rush down the valley like light from the sun!
'Tis stranger to think that the savage and free
Should walk the same road to their homes in the sea!
Which proves that the lion and lamb shall be friends,
And earth, in a time, to its uttermost ends.
And rush down the valley like light from the sun!
'Tis stranger to think that the savage and free
Should walk the same road to their homes in the sea!
Which proves that the lion and lamb shall be friends,
And earth, in a time, to its uttermost ends.
93
He came with Eternity—flows with its tide—
And none can say ought or his wonders deride—
He opens his breast like a schoolboy at play,
And bears the world's merchandise freely away!
He looks in the moonlight as wide as the sea,
And rolls up his billows in tempests as free!
And none can say ought or his wonders deride—
He opens his breast like a schoolboy at play,
And bears the world's merchandise freely away!
He looks in the moonlight as wide as the sea,
And rolls up his billows in tempests as free!
Then wind thee along to the climes of the sun—
Thou bottomless king! to Eternity run!
The wild, like Manoah, hath prayed for a child,
And thou art the Sampson, the king of the wild!
And, like unto Ishmael, around thee shall spring
A kingdom of nations to call thee their king.
Thou bottomless king! to Eternity run!
The wild, like Manoah, hath prayed for a child,
And thou art the Sampson, the king of the wild!
And, like unto Ishmael, around thee shall spring
A kingdom of nations to call thee their king.
We look on thy bosom, but cannot control
The terror that strikes from the heart to the soul!
We know thee unique in the East or the West,
Who look'st in a calm like a lion at rest!
We give thee the praise—then adieu to the wild
That brought forth a son called Eternity's child.
The terror that strikes from the heart to the soul!
We know thee unique in the East or the West,
Who look'st in a calm like a lion at rest!
We give thee the praise—then adieu to the wild
That brought forth a son called Eternity's child.
| Nacoochee ; or, the beautiful star, with other Poems | |