PS 3545 .13 03 1907 Copy 1 Ljde to ODE TO NIAGARA William Chambers Wilbor, D.D., Ph.D, BUFFALO, N. Y. E. Brinkworth 331 Main Street 1907 fwo Ot'pies rtuc*!Vii!i D£C 20 i90? ' .I-5O3 COPYRIGHT 1907 ^ ODE TO NIAGARA. iT^ By William Chambers Wilbor, D.D., Ph.D. "PROM far-famed lofty Table Rock, in wide- Extending vision, I behold, entranced. The magnitude and symmetry of thy Proportions. In one grand panoramic Picture thott stretchest out before me — thy Spacious overflowing gulf, thy distant Falling flood, an avalanche of silver Sheen, thy wooded islands' intervening Grags, and, near at hand, thy massive bending Horseshoe: while far above the ascending Rapids thy broad expanse of azure waves Blends with the skies which frame the inspiring scene. Long ages past, when the primeval woods Sheltered thy banks and fierce barbaric tribes Threaded the forest trails to look on thee And listen to thy voice, they felt in their Untutored hearts the presence here of the Great Spirit brooding o'er thy heights sublime And foaming depths profound. Fit temple art Thou for the living God. Nature perpetual Sabbath keeps within thy precincts, and man's Soul, awed by the thunder of thy deep tones, Hushes the discords of a world of strife And, low before the universe's King, In spirit worships and with Him communes* Cool breezes blow thy mists between thee and Mine eyes, yet, by thy roar, I stirely know Thotf rollest on in that uneven cotsrse through Which thy way hast led long eons while the Feet of those who on thee gaze forever Vanish from thy side. Vapors are transient* Soon the s«n*s warm rays suspend before thy Face serene a double rainbow. Lo, the Zephyrs die, all clouds disperse, and thy clear Sapphire-emerald blending hues gleam fresh and Bright in the transparent air. upon the Calm, still bosom of thy stream the gliding, Flashing waters flow, with ever-quickening Pace, to make the awful pitjnge of thy vast Cataract; then, placid for a while, press On impetuous downward through thy gorge, 'twixt Palisades of high-built walls of rock, like Herds of wild unbridled steeds rearing and Rushing on through eddying whirlpool's mad Uproarious waves, till they find rest at Length in the smooth deeps of plains beyond, And fall asleep in blue Ontario. Poised in the path of thy swift-flowing surge Enchanting isles divide thy fleet cascades And hang suspended on the dizzy edge Of towering precipice and beetling cliff. Secluded dells, 'neath grateful shade of trees With many a winding way *mid fairy Bowerst are decked with feathery foliage Of silver birch and spruce. Festooning vines Of the wild grape there diadem thy brows With verdant chaplets twined with sylvan grace* Within this paradise restored the mind May think upon thy gentler, softer lines Ast far below, tipon thy splendor and Sublimity, it views the no less skillful Handiwork of God, and lauds His boundless "Wisdom and love of all things beautifuL Within thy drenched and gloomy Cave of Winds I hear, appalled, the loud and dreadftti crash And uproar of thy frightful leap, and learn Anew thy measureless and matchless power. Like liquid veil thy crystal deluge falls, "With headlong speed and far-resounding rage. Dashing its weight of water on shattered Trembling ledge of stone, escapes in glistening Effervescent surf, and whirls along to Join the fleeing billows which haste away From the dread home of chaos and dispute. The Rock of Ages rising at thy feet, Where strike most fariottsly thy ponderous blows. Bears all the swellings of thy tempest great Unmoved* It braves the overwhelming shock And stands for aye the symbol of that Rock Which holds the Christian faith secure and strong 'Mid ceaseless conflicts in a realm of doubt. Thoti hast for me a weird, unearthly charm At midnightt when thy melody has lulled To rest the multitudes who throng thy side By day» Then the faint gleam of twinkling stars And crescent moon their dim rays shed upon Thy curved crest, and weave a halo soft. Unknown to glaring light, which crowns thee with A mystic glory and a shadowy glow* There in the solitttde and on the brink Of thy unseen abyss, with darkness filled. The sottnd of many waters and the ghostly Sheet of foam about thee, are speech and forms Of other worlds to me* Amazed, and with 'Bated breath, I seem to stand, «pon the Verge of time, alone with thy Creator, Thy strange caprice in winter I behold With admiration and surprise as, of Thy clottdlike spray frozen to Parian Marble, thoti carvest images grotesque, And, drooping from laden branch of tree and Shrub, thou hangest wreaths of ivory and Coral white, and drap'st with purity all That yield to the influence of thy magic spelL While, at the foot of thy great waterfall. There grows from day to day, an icy mount Almost to level of thine altitude* While, far beneath thy jagged bridge of ice. Which spans thy hidden bed; thou hurriest on Resisting all constraint of frost and snow. Eternity is symboled in thy strong. Full, ceaseless life through an unmeasured flight Of years. A hand omnipotentt from earth's Reservoirs exhatistless, pottrs within the Brimming shores of thy swift, unresting waves Floods ever full yet ever new supplied. Thou teachest all who come to learn of thee The endless length and breadth and depth and height Of beauty, grandeur, and of power divine. Thotf r«nncst on tinclianged by aught that e'er Transpires among the races of the earths Kj[ngs rise to power and pass away. Armies Are mustered in, and nations' destinies Are sealed upon the battlefields where they Forever disappear. Generations Come and go unheeded and unmarked by Thee, as, ever moving on, defiant of The lapse of time, thy rugged stream flows through The long unnumbered centuries the same. t>FC 20 im LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 015 873 979 3