Tag: poems

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.

The Winds of Niagara by Ada Elizabeth Fuller

winds
Niagara Mornings, February 15, 2007. Winds Blowing Mist
Photo by Andrew Porteus

Blow strong from the River, O Breeze,
‡‡For hot are my passions to-day.
Breathe soft from your feathery trees
‡‡And blow all my sorrows away.
Oh make my heart buoyant and glad,
‡‡As gay and as free as thou art;
For my soul is so weary and sad,
‡‡I would have its dark visions depart.

Oh breezes that ripple and curl
‡‡The waves on the great river’s breast,
The banners of morning unfurl
‡‡Their gleams on each foaming wave’s crest!
So lull my wild passions to rest
‡‡As you airilv dance to the sea,
And the thoughts that are wholesome and best
‡‡Will scatter their blessings on me!

Source:  Ada Elizabeth Fuller.  Sunshine and Shadow: Poems by Ada Elizabeth Fuller.  Niagara Falls, Ont.: Ada Elizabeth Fuller, 1919

See  the Niagara Mornings photographs by Andrew Porteus on YouTube

Thy Bells Deveaux (a song) by Thomas Vincent Welch and J. Ernest Rieger

welch

Their tender tone o’er field and wood,
On summer wind now borne along;
With beating heart and eyes bedewed,
I hear once more their ev’ning song.

In many lands my feet have strayed,
Since I obeyed their vesper call;
When night winds stirred, in dreams I heard,
Their plaintive notes at evening’s fall.

Ring, ring, ring thy bells Deveaux
Ring o’er the cliffs thy bells Deveaux
Ring o’er field and wood as long ago;
Niag’ra’s murm’ring flood below
Ring o’er the cliffs thy bells Deveaux,
thy bells, thy bells, Deveaux

Once more a boy in forest dim,
I hear with joy their twilight hymn;
The toils of life, the joys we weep,
Our cares and sorrows ring to sleep.

O God from whom all blessings flow,
Protect thine hallow’d walls Deveaux,
And bells of heav’n, when life is past,
Call all thy children home at last.

Ring, ring, ring thy bells Deveaux
Ring o’er the cliffs thy bells Deveaux
Ring o’er field and wood as long ago;
Niag’ra’s murm’ring flood below
Ring o’er the cliffs thy bells Deveaux,
thy bells, thy bells, Deveaux

Source: Welch, Thomas Vincent (words) and Rieger, J. Ernest (music). Thy Bells Deveaux: Song for Soprano or Tenor and Mixed Quintette or Chorus. Niagara Falls, NY: J.E. Rieger, 1894

Many thanks to Lewis Buttery for bringing this song by Welch and Rieger to the NFPP curator’s attention.

The site of DeVeaux College is now owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, and is now the DeVeaux Woods State Park.

See the poem Chimes of De Veaux by Ada Elizabeth Fuller, to commemorate the installation of the new bells in 1913

Read more about the DeVeaux College Chimes

Visit the Big Daddy Dave blog post about DeVeaux School

Niagara by Naomi Shihab Nye

nye
Maid of the Mist Near the American Side of Niagara Falls.
Photo by Chris McIntosh on Unsplash

 

 

Arriving early, before the lovers
have climbed up from their seastruck beds,
she stands where mist can penetrate
the way 7 a. m. changes the world—
softening, quickening little
hopes. She thought the Falls

were out in the country, not in a town.
To be wrong so many times, like finding the pyramids
adjacent to the Cairo bus stop,
or even herself alone in upstate New York
in the middle of a summer when she can imagine
pitching so many things overboard,
not a body in a barrel, not that,
but stacks of manuscripts, yellow stick-um notes,
even what she said yesterday,

into the surging megatons,
the burst of fabulous power that could light our lights
from here to Cincinnati or whatever the loudspeaker shouts
when she rides the boat that dips a herd of slickers
into the blinding white roar, the baptismal boat
where Japanese and Puerto Rican come up equally
wet. Despite the blurred narrative,
she won’t forget how she lifted her face into the spray.

Before leaving, she drives around
the Canadian side, entering the thrift mart,
dimestore, buying a jug of bilingual bubble bath—
then spins toward the bridge again, refreshed,
sparked by the electricity that accompanies
days marked by nothing but what we see,
as if after all our sober intentions and hard work,
the days that carry us could be these.

Source: Naomi Shihab Nye. Red Suitcase: Poems. Rochester, NY: BOA Editions, 1994

About Naomi Shihab Nye (from Red Suitcase):

Poet, teacher, essayist, anthologist, songwriter and singer, Naomi Shihab Nye is one of the country’s most acclaimed writers. Her voice is generous; her vision true; her subjects ordinary people, and ordinary situations which, when rendered through her language, become remarkable. In this, her fourth full collection of poetry, we see with new eyes-a grandmother’s scarf, an alarm clock, a man carrying his son on his shoulders.

Follow Naomi Shihab Nye on Instagram

Chimes of De Veaux by Ada Elizabeth Fuller

deveaux
Ambrose Chapel at De Veaux College, where the bells were housed
Photo courtesy Big Daddy Dave blog

 

Fling out your silver peals,
‡‡Over the river’s breast.
Speak to the waters, peace,
‡‡Bid the wild Rapids rest.
Peal sweetly, high and low,
‡‡Chimes of De Veaux.

Chime to the flaming woods,
‡‡Gay in the morning sun.
Chime to the solemn pines
‡‡After the day is done.
Peal sweetly, high and low,
‡‡Chimes of De Veaux.

Ring out your silver strains,
‡‡Over Niagara’s breast.
Bid the wild waters roll,
‡‡On to their ocean-rest.
Peal sweetly, high and low,
‡‡Chimes of De Veaux.

Source:  Ada Elizabeth Fuller.  Sunshine and Shadow: Poems by Ada Elizabeth Fuller.  Niagara Falls, Ont. Ada Elizabeth Fuller, 1919

The site of DeVeaux College is now owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, and is now the DeVeaux Woods State Park. According to the TowerBells.org DeVeaux School had a 10-bell chime installed by Meneely/Troy in 1913, which was sold to Verdin in November 1994.  The remaining structure on the site have also been demolished.

From The Living Church, vol. 50, January 3, 1914

New Chimes at De Veaux College

On New Year’s Eve, at midnight, the new chimes at De Veaux College, Niagara Falls, N.Y. (the Rev. William Stanley Barrows, headmaster), were rung for the first time. The bells, ten in number, were made by the Meneely Company of Troy, and are known as their F Tenor chime. They are a duplicate of those recently given to Christ Church, Greenwich, Conn, and are the gift of Mr. Albert H. Lewis of Bridgeport, Conn., who attended De Veaux College from 1857 to 1862. The inscription on the great bell reads: “Fortiter, Fideliter, Feliciter.  In honor of Samuel De Veaux and as a memorial to those trustees, masters, boys, and patrons who have faithfully served and fostered De Veaux College, this chime is presented by Albert Henry Lewis, ’57-’62, Founder’s Day, A. D. 1913, the fifty-sixth anniversary of the opening of De Veaux College. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will toward men.” The inscription of the other bells is: “Fortiter, Fideliter, Feliciter. De Veaux College, ex dono Albert Henry Lewis, Founder’s Day, A. D. 1913.”

View the song Thy Bells Deveaux by Thomas Vincent Welch and J. Ernest Rieger

Read more about the DeVeaux College Chimes

Visit the Big Daddy Dave blog post about DeVeaux School