Tag: Niagara Falls

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.

Lines Written at Niagara by Oliver Oldschool, Esq.

oldschool
Joseph Dennie / Oliver Oldschool, Esq., by James Sharples c1790
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Whate’er I’ve been told of thy wonders is true !
All nature at once seems to rush on my view,
And, lost in the trance you occasion, I cry,
How stupendous the scene ! what an atom am I !
How thy waves, wildly foaming, and hurled around,
Rise in volumes of mist from thy cauldron profound,
And in tears, which thy fury has caused, brightly plays,
The rainbow that dazzles my sight with its blaze !
Like the tyrant of Europe, whose merciless force
Bears down ev’ry mound which opposes his course :
While the halo, whose glory encircles his head,
Is formed by the tears which the wretched have shed.
O who should not rather all glory forego,
Than gain it by battle, and bloodshed and wo !
O who would not rather inhabit the vale,
Than dwell on the Andes, the sport of each gale !
Near Etna I’ve stray’d with impressions most sweet,
Through vineyards that circle with verdure its feet ;
But felt not the least inclination to tread
On the ashes which cover its cloud-piercing head.
And though with sensations I ne’er knew before,
I bend me enraptur’d to list to thy roar,
And, as thy blue streams irresistibly roll,
Feel the awe most sublime which possesses my soul ;
Yet I would not for worlds that my life were like thee !
O far be each thought of such tumult from me !
Far, far be each wish that ambition might form
To delight in the horrour and roar of the storm.
Let me, cool and clear, glide on free from all taint,
Dispensing relief to the weary and faint ;
No torrent that bursts to affright and amaze,
But the smooth, gentle stream, through the valley that strays.

Source:  The Port Folio. New Series, vol. 4, no. 1, July 4, 1807

Oliver Oldschool, Esq. was a pseudonym for Joseph Dennie. Read about Dennie

 

Once Walking in Old Niagara by T. W. Kriner

walking
Aerial view of Niagara Falls, NY, 2004
by Tammy Frakking
Image courtesy of Niagara Falls (Ontario) Public Library

Along the walk near Pine and Packard
a boy I passed howled, “Saltine cracker!”
I didn’t know quite what he meant.
He left then. Don’t know where he went.

Source: The author, 2025

T. W. Kriner is the author of Journeys to the Brink of Doom (1997), In the Mad Water (1999), Twelve Dozen Four-by-Fours (2025), and The Call of Tawiskaro (2025).  He lives in a Western New York swamp with his wife and two cats.  He has recently posted a fair number of poems at  All Poetry .com, if you’d care to sample. 

Both “cracker” and “saltine” can be used as racial slurs, especially against poor, rural white people.  See an explanation of “cracker” here and an explanation of “saltine” here

 

Kirk Raymond Jones by T. W. Kriner

kirk
Handwritten note to T.W. Kriner from Kirk Jones

I once met the man. We spoke for a bit.
He autographed something. That was pretty much it.
He went over Niagara once and lived.
On his second attempt, the poor guy got shivved.

Source: The author, ©2025

The note reads: To Ted Kriner: a great historian who knows the true spirit of the falls. I trust we will meet again together we will unlock the secrets of Niagara. Your friend Kirk Jones, Niagara Falls Survivor

Read about Kirk Raymond Jones

A Seneca Clan Mother Reflects on the Recent Suicide at the American Fall by T. W. Kriner

seneca
A View of Niagara Falls in 1799 by Edmund Henn
Watercolour wash by Jane Merryweather. Image courtesy of Niagara Falls (Ontario) Public Library

Before the purblind European eye
had cast its greedy stare upon the stones
that cracked before the flood like brittle bones,
the Onguiaarhas chose this place to die.

Their name became Niagara to the Whites
—it’s all that’s left of them in their disgrace.
They bowed before a demon at this place
and sacrificed their daughters in his rites.

Instead of Hinon, thunder god, they prayed
to Tawiskaro, trickster of the north,
who charmed them with his voice and called them forth
to feed upon their souls—so it is said.

The Onguiaarhas warned us of the fall,
but men still answer to the demon’s call.

 

Source:  T. W. Kriner. 

T. W. Kriner is the author of Journeys to the Brink of Doom (1997), In the Mad Water (1999), Twelve Dozen Four-by-Fours (2025), and The Call of Tawiskaro (2025).  He lives in a Western New York swamp with his wife and two cats.

Kriner says:
Of course the “myth” behind the sonnet was entirely fabricated by me. I continued this story in my recent short story collection The Call of Tawiskaro & Other Tales of Woe and Whimsy. The idea is absurd. I admit that freely. But it was fun.   

I’ve recently posted a fair number of poems at  All Poetry .com, if you’d care to sample.