Tag: nature

Farewell to Niagara by O. P.

o. p.
Niagara Falls by Karl Bodmer, 1830s
Image courtesy of the Library of Congress

Niagara, farewell ! I have lingered with pleasure
    Beside the white spray of thy glittering wave,
I have heard the wild notes of the fisherman’s measure,
    And wandered, at eve, by the lone Indian grave.
‘Twill be long ere I visit thy loved scenes, enchanted,
    And listen again to the wild torrent’s note,
Ere I stray by the ruins tradition has haunted,
    Or hear musick’s strain o’er the cataract float.
Farewell to Niagara ! when far from its waters
    I still shall remember the pleasant scenes past,
When the roseate smiles of Colombia’s daughters
    Gave wings to the moments that hastened so fast.
I love thee when red with the beams of the morning,
    I love thee when sparkling beneath the bright star ;
Thy voice in its thunder, so solemn and warning,
    I’ll treasure in mem’ry when distant afar.
Farewell to Niagara ! its beauty and grandeur,
    Its silver streams gushing beneath the bright moon,
All now are before me, enchanting in splendour,
    They’ll fade from my glances, reluctant, too soon.
I love thee in every form thou present’st me,
    In calm, and when wild tempests o’er thee play ;
I leave thee, I leave thee, and yet it repents me
    To quit thy blue waters for many a day.

Source:  The Craftsman, Volume First ; for 1829-30. Rochester: E.J. Roberts, 1829. At the head of the title: From the Boston Statesman

The identity of O. P. is unknown.

The Night of the Owl by Mia C.

 

owl
Eastern Screech Owl
Photo taken in Fonthill, Ontario, on September 22, 2019 by Dan Pay
Heavy owls swell,
Feeling overly wicked,
Watching the moonlight.

Source: The author via Tina Chivers.

 
Mia C., a grade 9 student in Tina Chivers’ English class wrote the haiku The Night of the Owl about the owls living in Niagara
 
 
Photo of the Eastern Screech Owl by Dan Pay was first published on the Niagara Bird Watchers Facebook page
 

Under the Locust Boughs by Tom Lloyd Finlayson

To “J.” — written under the locust trees along the banks of the Niagara

locust

Ussher’s Creek at the Niagara River Parkway
Image courtesy of Niagara Falls Public Library

In a realm of song and shine,
Where God’s sweetest wild flowers twine,
By Niagara’s singing stream,
Last night in a golden dream,
Wandered I, while at my side
Was a laughing maid, blue-eyed.
Spun from the silk of the corn
Were her tresses, waist length worn;
Fragile, as small pinkest shells
Her wee ears; like jingling bells
Tinkling in the soul of me
Her pure laugh of ecstacy.
Underneath the blossoming boughs
Of the locust, tender vows
Once again our young hearts made;
While the violins that played
Of the breeze, through blooms above,
Thrilled our souls with God’s first love

Source: Tom Lloyd Finlayson. Songs of Niagara Frontier and Other Poems; Autographed by the Author. St. Thomas, Sutherland Press, Limited. n.d.

Judging from the locations mentioned in the poems in this pamphlet it seems that Finlayson spent his childhood in Fort Erie, Ontario.

Morning at the Falls by G. W. Cutter

morning

View of Niagara Falls from the American Side, 1850
by A.M. Fraser. Colour tint by Jane Merryweather
Image courtesy of Niagara Falls Public Library


‘Tis morning, and the vapors white
Towering on high, reflect the light
Back in a flood of glittering gems,
….As if the genii of the air
Their baldricks and their diadems
….In hecatombs were offering there ;
‘Tis morning, and the foliage green,
O’er that gulf is deck’d with silver sheen ; 
A pearly shower as softly lies,
….As bright, as sweetly there reposes,
As ever fell from summer skies
….Upon an orient vale of roses.

The cedar twining o’er the rock
As if ‘twere conscious of the shock ;
The earthquake of that ocean tide,
….That, pouring, rushing evermore,
Like rolling avalanches glide
….And foam along the shore,
Bears on the emerald crown it wears,
….Gems brighter than have ever lain
Upon the young and tender leaves
….Where softly fell the gentle rain ;
When Flora’s lovely censers fling
Their incense o’er the shrine of spring.

It is indeed a fearful thing,
….A moment we shall ne’er forget,
To stand where e’en the eagle’s wing
….Has never dared to venture yet ;
To mark the volumed vapor white
….Roll up as from a mighty altar,
And feel upon that dizzy hight
….The eternal rock beneath us falter, 
While thousand rainbows fade and flash 
….O’er the crash’d waters as they flow,
And from our very footsteps crash
….In mist and thunder far below,
To know that till the Almighty hand
….Shall “roll together as a scroll”
The utmost verge of sea and land,
….That mighty stream shall foam and fall ;
That when our puny frames forgot 
….In death shall sleep full many a year, 
Then other eyes shall hail this spot
….And gaze as we are gazing here.

Source: G.W. Cutter. Poems and Fugitive Pieces. Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co., 1857

Read about G.W. Cutter

 

Visit of the Sunbeams to the Falls of Niagara by M.F. Bigney

bigney
Table Rock, Niagara Falls, 1867
by Edward Ruggles
Image courtesy of the Library of Congress


FROM orient realms, in depths of space afar, 
Young sunbeams travel in their golden car ; 
Lightly they glance along old Ocean’s breast, 
Enkindling  sea-gems on each wavelet’s crest ; 
O’er flow’ry plains and verdant fields they pass, 
Where dewy pearls adorn each blade of grass— 
Where fragrance rises from the tears of Night 
When smiled on by these messengers of light, 
These angel visitants of earth, whose ray 
Receives its lustre from the God of Day.

Away, away they speed—and many a grove 
Sends forth its tuneful melodies to rove 
Amid the brightness of their path, and sing 
A mournful anthem on exultant wing. 
Still on they pass—the cottage and the hall, 
The snow-crown’d mount, the ivied castle wall, 
The rich man’s mansion and the poor man’s home 
Are lighted by their presence as they roam.

Beside Niagara, entranced, I stood, 
Awed by the thunder of its falling flood, 
Stilled by the voice of its eternal roar, 
Passions were lull’d and fancy taught to soar.

‘Twas early morn, and as the Sunbeams came 
In golden grandeur from a world of flame, 
They reveled in their brightness, mid the trees, 
Whose fresh leaves fluttered in the whisp’ring breeze,
Then rested, old Niagara, on thee—
Sov’reign of streams and type of majesty !
Thy smiling courtiers, rising from thy feet,
Rise up on wings of amber-mist to greet
Sol’s bright ambassadors—they meet—they bring 
A rainbow-wreath to crown the Cascade King ! 
‘Twas brightly beautiful ! its changeful hues 
Were brilliant as the love-dreams of the muse ; 
While blending glories glittered in each gem 
Set in that fair supernal diadem.

On pass thy Sunbeams and the vapors bright 
In mystic dance of loveliness and light ; 
Wildly they wander through the fields of air, 
Or stoop to kiss sweet Flora’s children fair ; 
New charms expand in the bright, beauteous race, 
And fragrance welcomes still the fond embrace ; 
With ever-varying tint each petal glows,
The smiling lily hails the blushing rose—
Still on they go, through garden, field and grove, 
la ceaseless rounds of harmony and love !

Source: M.F. Bigney. The Forest Pilgrims, and Other Poems. New Orleans: James A. Gresham, 1867

Bigney was the editor of The New Orleans Daily

From the Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana, vol 2:  “J. W. Overall and M. F. Bigney were liberal and enlightened patrons of literature in New Orleans. Both were poets, and Mr. Bigney published , in 1867 , a volume called  The Forest Pilgrims , and Other Poems ,  among which the “Wreck of the Nautilas” has often been quoted.