An Acrostic by Alexander Douglas

douglas
An Acrostic Poem by Alexander Douglas

Written at Niagara Falls, Upper Canada, 29th June, 1839 

A  re not those Falls magnificent, divine ?
L  oud do they roar ; and, from this lot of mine,
E  xceeding beauteous is the view ; they roll,
‘X  citing wonder to the human soul ;
A  nd here, within this calm, this cool retreat,
N  ow each may have his fill, something to eat,
D  runk he may be, but that I don’t allow,
E  ‘en why ? ‘gainst drunkenness I’ve made a vow.
R  ight forward I will go, my place maintain ;
D  o not be frightened if my will is vain,
O  ! may my friends, both English and all those
U  nto our land who sometimes cause some woes,
G  ive God the praise, whilst yonder waters shine ;
L  ord, Thou mad’st these, thy handwork is divine.
A  nd many Canadians and our neighbours prove
S  uch friends, that all our acts be those of love.

Clifton Cottage, Niagara Falls


Source: Brock University. Ann Eliza Hepburne Rooth Fonds, 1837-1897  RG 505
https://dr.library.brocku.ca/handle/10464/5978

From Brock University’s description of the scrapbook:

Ann Eliza Hepburne was born in Chippawa, Ontario in 1821 to William Hepburne and Susan Shannon. In 1842, she married William Anthony Rooth in St. James Cathedral in Toronto. They continued to live in different parts of the Niagara region including Drummondville, Welland and Port Colborne. William was the editor and proprietor of the Drummondville Reporter as well as an accountant and insurance agent, and later worked for the Customs Service in Port Colborne. He died in 1878, and Eliza in 1899. Both are buried in Drummond Hill Cemetery in Niagara Falls, Ontario.


Alexander Douglas uses his own name as the base for this poem.

Baby Steps IV by atlantic

baby steps 4

My doctor
‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡(so official!)
Told me
that I needed to
‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡slow
‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡down.
“That you speak and walk so quickly is a symptom
‡‡‡‡‡of  your anxiety. It feeds it.”
‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡And so
‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡I started
‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡
‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡to write

Source: The author, 2019

atlantic was born and raised in Niagara Falls, where he still resides. A selection of his work is available on Instagram

Also by atlantic:
•    burgoyne bridge
•    carnival tunes
•    Robert Frost
•    water child

Niagara Falls: a Poem in Three Cantos / by James K. Liston.

Liston
Title page in his Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls ! stupendous, beautiful,
Enduring monument of Power Divine !
Thy white-foam pillars ever moving stand,
And ever standing move harmoniously
To the rough music of the dashing spray,
And roaring tumult of the boiling base.
How long has tuned this mystic minstrelsy ?
When did thy swift but solemn march begin ?
When wast thou first heaved o’er those heights sublime
That fringe, with green, Ontario’s mantle blue ?
How long hast thou been grinding down that steep
That frames the wonder of a wondrous world,
And holds thy silvery vestments to the sun ?

Niagara Falls ! stupendous, beautiful,
Enduring monument of Power Divine !
Thy white-foam pillars ever moving stand,
And ever standing move harmoniously
To the rough music of the dashing spray,
And roaring tumult of the boiling base.
How long has tuned this mystic minstrelsy ?
When did thy swift but solemn march begin ?
When wast thou first heaved o’er those heights sublime
That fringe, with green, Ontario’s mantle blue ?
How long hast thou been grinding down that steep
That frames the wonder of a wondrous world,
And holds thy silvery vestments to the sun ?

To see the full text of this long poem, visit the Hathi Trust scanned copy at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t0jt0gq1q;view=1up;seq=14

Source: Liston, James Knox. Niagara Falls a poem in three cantos. Toronto: The Author, 1843. Scanned copy from the Hathi Trust