Niagara Falls From Goat Island, 1857 Print by Currier & Ives. Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Niagara Falls are a wonderful scene, Regularly calculated to make the mind serene ;
With their mighty dash and tremendous spray,
They roll and they roll, repeatedly every day !”
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These Falls have never been congealed completely,
In this, weak men are agreed, neatly!
Source: X. Y. “Poetry of Young America.” The Massachusetts Teacher and Journal of Home and School Education 10, no. 2 (1857): 89–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45023974.
Niagara Falls, 1902 Published by the Empire Picture Co. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress
L’onde majestueuse avec lenteur s’écoule ;
Puis, sortant tout à coup de ce calme trompeur,
Furieux, et frappant les échos de stupeur,
Dans l’abîme sans fond le fleuve immense croule.
C’est la Chute ! son bruit de tonnerre fait peur
Même aux oiseaux errants, qui s’éloignent en foule
Du gouffre formidable où l’arc-en-ciel déroule
Son écharpe de feu sur un lit de vapeur.
Tout tremble ; en un instant cette énorme avalanche
D’eau verte se transforme en monts d’écume blanche,
Farouches, éperdus, bondissant, mugissant. . .
Et pourtant, ô mon Dieu, ce flot que tu déchaînes,
Qui brise les rochers, pulvérise les chênes,
Respecte le fétu qu’il emporte en passant.
Source: Fréchette, Louis Honoré. Feuilles Volantes ; Oiseaux de Neiges: (cent et un sonnets). Éd. définitive, rev., corr. et augm. Montréal: Librairie Beauchemin, 1908. This poem is dated 1868
The falls of Niagara roll on, and on,
Tumbling and tossing, hither and yon,
Foaming and frothing over rocks, and shale,
Forever and ever, on its ancient trail.
Down through the rapids the water flows,
Twirling, and swirling as onward it goes,
Not a heed for anything on its way,
As it gains momentum, day after day.
What a story if water could tell!
All the happenings it knows so well,
Such beauty it leaves on a misty day,
When a rainbow appears on display.
Lights turned on the falls at night,
Illuminate a dazzling sight,
Tourists from far and wide see bliss,
The falls of Niagara, you must not miss.
Views in nature are a large feat.
Of the many you chance to meet
Come, see how the cataract enthralls.
Beautiful, beautiful Niagara Falls.
Source: Ely, Howard (ed.) The Best Poems and Poets of 2004. The International Library of Poetry, 2005
Ruth Sullivan was a long-time Niagara Falls resident. Sullivan
The Ice Bridge at Niagara Falls, February 5, 2007 Photo by Andrew Porteus
Fine sprays, colored rainbows,
Rushing waters, winter snows.
Majestically she roars her might,
Niagara, a truly beautiful sight!
Hark! Let us lend an ear
To rumbling sounds that are so near
Recognize her music with pride,
To Niagara! a drink we’ll imbibe!
Breathlessly we watch on a cold winter’s night
When NIagara waters are frozen tight
Ice bridges are formed on waters now ice,
Figurines are molded, does that not suffice?
The stage is set and sounds are slight,
Niagara is silenced by winter’s might.
A command performance soon we’ll see,
As Niagara prepares to break herself free!
With a mighty roar, she blasts her authority
Her fury is unleashed, she’s in her glory
Ice bridges are broken and skirting away
Niagara beautiful has had her say!
The rumbling sounds are heard once more
As Niagara boasts her strength galore!
All is beautiful-so serene
Beautiful Niagara, really supreme!
Source: Samuel R. Cristelli (Dec 5,1921 – Jul 18,1997). The date this poem was written is unknown. Cristelli, a WWII veteran, worked as an electrician and he wrote this poem for the electrical shop newsletter. When he retired he worked as a supervisor with The Regional Municipality of Niagara at the Pollution Control Plant. The poem was provided by the author’s daughter, Shelley.
