"FATHER of lakes!" thy waters bend Beyond the eagle's utmost view, When, throned in heaven, he sees thee send Back to the sky its world of blue. Boundless and deep, the forests weave Their twilight shade thy borders o'er, And threatening cliffs, like giants, heave Their rugged forms along thy shore. Pale silence, mid thy hollow caves, With listening ear, in sadness broods; Or startled echo, o'er thy waves, Sends the hoarse wolf-notes of thy woods. Nor can the light canoes, that glide Across thy breast like things of air, Chase from thy lone and level tide The spell of stillness deepening there. Yet round this waste of wood and wave, Unheard, unseen, a spirit lives, That, breathing o'er each rock and cave, To all a wild, strange aspect gives. The thunder-riven oak, that flings Its grisly arms athwart the sky, A sudden, startling image brings To the lone traveller's kindled eye. The gnarled and braided boughs, that show Their dim forms in the forest shade, Like wrestling serpents seem, and throw Fantastic horrors through the glade. The very echoes round this shore Have caught a strange and gibbering tone; For they have told the war-whoop o'er, Till the wild chorus is their own. Wave of the wilderness, adieu! Adieu, ye rocks, ye wilds, ye woods! Roll on, thou element of blue, And fill these awful solitudes! Thou hast no tale to tell of man; God is thy theme. Ye sounding caves, Whisper of him whose mighty plan Deems as a bubble all your waves! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOW TO KNOW LOVE FROM DECEIT by WILLIAM BLAKE DIVINA COMMEDIA (INTRODUCTORY POEMS): 1 by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE SANDPIPER by CELIA LEIGHTON THAXTER FATHERHOOD by HENRY CHARLES BEECHING MY HIDING PLACE AND ME by BARBARA BROOKS BIXLEY TAKE YOUR CHOICE: AS EDGAR LEE MASTERS WOULD HANDLE IT. HILDA HYDE by BERTON BRALEY |