I looked upon the water, and I smiled
To see how furiously the creeter biled; And then I thought I wiped a tear away,
But folks that saw it said it looked like spray.
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
In the year 1836 the names of 30,000 persons were registered on the two shores at the Falls of Niagara.
The title page of the Table Rock Album
All came to see whate’er was to be seen;
All saw, because they had their eyes, I ween;
Some pondered, some wondered, all went away;
Whether they went wiser ― can’t pretend to say.
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
Boast not thyself, Niagara, ‡‡That thy deep song shall ne’er be o’er ―
The archangel’s voice shall yet proclaim ‡‡That thou and time shall be no more.
Boast not thyself, though God hath set ‡‡His seal of glory on thee now;
For He shall veil thy glory yet, ‡‡And take the rainbow from thy brow.
Thou, thou may’st sing a requiem o’er ‡‡The grave of millions yet unborn;
Thy sun of glory too shall set ― ‡‡The universe for thee shall mourn.
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
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
I have been to “Termination Rock,”
Where many have been before;
But as I can’t describe the scene,
I won’t say any more.
Anonymous
If you cannot describe the scene —
Which all should much deplore —
Inferior bards should drop their pens — Their verse would be a bore.
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
