Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE DELAWARE WATER-GAP, by ELIZABETH LUMMIS FRIES ELLETT Poet Analysis First Line: Our western land can boast no lovelier spot Last Line: Fertility renewed and fresh delights. Alternate Author Name(s): Ellet, Elizabth F. Subject(s): Delaware (river) | ||||||||
Our western land can boast no lovelier spot. The hills which in their ancient grandeur stand Piled to the frowning clouds, the bulwarks seem Of this wild scene, resolved that none but Heaven Shall look upon its beauty. Round their breast A curtained fringe depends, of golden mist, Touched by the slanting sunbeams; while below The silent river, with majestic sweep, Pursues his shadowed way -- his glassy face Unbroken, save when stoops the lone wild swan To float in pride, or dip his ruffled wing. Talk ye of solitude? It is not here. Nor silence. Low, deep murmurs are abroad. Those towering hills hold converse with the sky That smiles upon their summits; and the wind Which stirs their wooded sides whispers of life, And bears the burden sweet from leaf to leaf, Bidding the stately forest-boughs look bright, And nod to greet his coming! And the brook, That with its silvery gleam comes leaping down From the hillside, has, too, a tale to tell; The wild bird's music mingles with its chime; And gay young flowers, that blossom in its path, Send forth their perfume as an added gift. The river utters, too, a solemn voice, And tells of deeds long past, in ages gone, When not a sound was heard along his shores, Save the wild tread of savage feet, or shriek Of some expiring captive, and no bark E'er cleft his gloomy waters. Now, his waves Are vocal often with the hunter's song; Now visit, in their glad and onward course, The abodes of happy men -- gardens and fields, And cultured plains -- still bearing, as they pass, Fertility renewed and fresh delights. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DELAWARE by THOMAS DUNN ENGLISH THE BALLAD OF DANIEL BRAY by JOSEPH FULFORD FOLSOM THE CANAL-BOAT PILOT, RETIRED by HARRINGTON GREEN WASHINGTON BY THE DELAWARE by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER TO THE HONOURABLE W. R. SPENCER; FROM BUFFALO, UPON LAKE ERIE by THOMAS MOORE LIKE SOUTHERN BIRDS by ELIZABETH LUMMIS FRIES ELLETT LINES by ELIZABETH LUMMIS FRIES ELLETT SODUS BAY by ELIZABETH LUMMIS FRIES ELLETT SONNET by ELIZABETH LUMMIS FRIES ELLETT |
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