Fair above all is Niagara by night,
When the pale moon drawn from the silent sky
Meets with the thund’ring waters, as they fly
Over the precipice’s dizzy height ;
Making them seem a mass of silver light.
A molten silver sea that thunders by,
In pomp as great, and equal majesty
As once the ancient deluge in its might
Rush’d onwards ; spilling over mountain chain,
Plunging from scaur to bottomless abyss
Whence tortur’d waves leapt up in spray and rain,
Perhaps the moon fell on, as now on this ;
Mellowing the grandeur of the stormy main
To scene of peace and perfect loveliness.
Source: Rhine, Alice Hyneman. Niagara Park Illustrated :Original and Selected Descriptions, Poems and Adventures. New York : Niagara Pub. Co., 1885. Rhine did not include Niagara by Moonlight in the 1888 edition of this book.
Read about Alice Hyneman (Rhine) Sotheran
A scenic interlude.