Cosmo De' Medici An Historical Tragedy: And Other Poems: By Richard Hengist Horne |
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THE CATARACT OF THE MOHAWK. |
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 | Cosmo De' Medici |  |
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THE CATARACT OF THE MOHAWK.
Ye black rocks, huddled like a fallen wall,
Ponderous and steep,
Where silver currents downward coil and fall,
And rank weeds weep!—
Thou broad and shallow bed, whose sullen floods
Show barren islets of red stones and sand,—
Shrunk is thy might beneath a fatal Hand,
That will erase all memories from the woods.
Ponderous and steep,
Where silver currents downward coil and fall,
And rank weeds weep!—
Thou broad and shallow bed, whose sullen floods
Show barren islets of red stones and sand,—
Shrunk is thy might beneath a fatal Hand,
That will erase all memories from the woods.
No more with war-paint, shells, and feathers grim,
The Indian chief
Casts his long, frightful shade from bank or brim.
A blighted leaf
Floats by—the emblem of his history!
For though when rains are strong, the cataract
Again rolls on, its currents soon contract,
Or serve for neighbouring mill and factory.
The Indian chief
Casts his long, frightful shade from bank or brim.
A blighted leaf
Floats by—the emblem of his history!
For though when rains are strong, the cataract
Again rolls on, its currents soon contract,
Or serve for neighbouring mill and factory.
A cloud,—of dragon's blood in hue—hangs blent
With streaks and veins
Of gall-stone yellow, and of orpiment,
O'er thy remains.
Never again, with grandeur, in the beam
Of sun-rise, or of noon, or changeful night,
Shalt thou in thunder chaunt thine old birth-right:
Fallen Mohawk! pass to thy stormy dream!
With streaks and veins
Of gall-stone yellow, and of orpiment,
O'er thy remains.
Never again, with grandeur, in the beam
Of sun-rise, or of noon, or changeful night,
Shalt thou in thunder chaunt thine old birth-right:
Fallen Mohawk! pass to thy stormy dream!
| Cosmo De' Medici | |