Niagara’s mighty waters, rushing by,
That stun the sense, and yet delight the eye,
Whose breakers dashing on the rugged rock,
With thundering uproar, and with deafening shock,
Awaken feelings never known before,
And fill the memory with an endless store
Of fancies and of thoughts that ne’er can die,
But treasured in the heart forever lie.
The white foam dancing and the clouds of spray
That boil beneath me and around me play,
The circling rainbows with their vivid dyes,
Like fairy forms from out the waters rise,
Deck’d with those tints, so pure and all so bright,
They seem like rays of heaven’s own hallowed light;
All, all unveil, and place within my sight
The great Creator in his matchless might.
Source: Table Rock Album and Sketches of the Falls and Scenery Adjacent. Buffalo: Steam Press of Thomas and Lathrops, copyright by Jewett, Thomas & Co.,1856c.1848
This link takes you to the scanned version of the 1855 version of Table Rock Album from the Hathi Trust
See the Table of Contents of the Table Rock Album on this site.