Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, VIEW ON THE HUDSON, by BARTHOLOMEW SIMMONS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

VIEW ON THE HUDSON, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sound to the sun thy solemn joy for ever
Last Line: To spread her worship o'er a second world.
Subject(s): Hudson River; United States; America


SOUND to the sun thy solemn joy for ever!
Roll forth the enormous gladness of thy waves,
Mid boundless bloom, thou bright majestic river,
Worthy the giant land thy current laves!
Each bend of beauty, from the stooping cliff,
Whose shade is dotted by the fisher's skiff, --
From rocks embattled, that, abrupt and tall,
Heave their bulk skyward like a castle-wall,
And hem thee in, until the Rapids hoarse
Split the huge marble with an earthquake's force,
To where thy waves are sweet with summer scents,
Flung from the Highland's softer lineaments --
Each lovelier change thy broadening billows take,
Now sweeping on, now like some mighty lake,
Stretching away where evening-tinted isles
Woo thee to linger mid their rosy smiles --
The lonely cove -- the village-humming hill --
The green dell lending thee its fairy rill --
All, all, are old familiar scenes to one
Who tracks thee but by fancy's aid alone.

Yet well his boyhood's earnest hours adored
Thy haunted headlands, since he first explored
With Weld the vast and shadowy recesses
Of their grand woods and verdant wildernesses;
Since first he open'd the enchanted books
(Whose words are silver liquid as the brook's)
Of that loved wanderer, who told the west
Van Winkle's wondrous tale, and fill'd each breast
By turns with awe, delight, or blithe emotion,
Painting the life thy forest-shadows knew,
What time the settlers, crowding o'er the ocean,
Spread their white sails along thy waters blue.

Theirs were the hearts true liberty bestows --
The valour that adventure lights in men;
And in their children still the metal glows,
As well can witness each resounding glen
Of the fair scene, whose mellow colours shine
Beneath the splendour of yon evening orb,
That sinks serene as WASHINGTON'S decline,
Whose memory here should meaner thoughts absorb.
Here rose the ramparts, never rear'd in vain
When Justice smites in two the oppressor's chain;
Here, year on year, through yonder heaven of blue,
The bomb's hot wrath its rending volleys threw
Against those towers, which, scorning all attack,
Still roll'd the assailants' shatter'd battle back;
Till, as they fled in final rout, behind
Soar'd the Republic's flag, high-floating in the wind!

Long may that star-emblazoned banner wave
Its folds triumphant o'er a land so brave,
Fann'd by no breeze but that which wafts us now
The laugh of Plenty, leaning on the plough.
And should Columbia's iron-hearted men
Try the fierce fortune of the sword again,
Be theirs to wield it in no wanton cause,
Fired by no braggart orators' applause,
In no red conflict, whose unrighteous tide
Could call nor Truth nor Mercy to their side,
So may their empire still supremely sweep
From age to age the illimitable deep,
With sway surpassing all but her proud reign,
Whose hand reposes on her lion's mane --
The Ocean Queen -- within whose rude isle lock'd
Their own stern fathers' infancy was rock'd;
Where first they breathed, amid the bracing north,
Fair Freedom's spirit, till she sent them forth --
Her cloud above their exodus unfurl'd --
To spread her worship o'er a second world.





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