At morn the rising God of day ‡‡Unveils this temple to our eyes ― ‡‡Incense ascending to the skies
Bids man his grateful homage pay
To God, at whose supreme command ‡‡The waters war, and dash, and leap, ‡‡And, thundering down this awful steep,
Whirl furiously along the strand
Below ― before three altars now, ‡‡We bend the knee ― three mighty Falls ― ‡‡Faint type of Him who on us calls
Before the Three in One to bow!
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 gazed on nature — here — abroad, ‡‡I have wandered o’er the briny deep;
Of all thy works, Almighty God, ‡‡This is the greatest, this is the chief.
A roaring cataract, ever foaming, ever rushing, ‡‡Ever boiling, ever raging, ever roaring, ever gushing
From some great source, which I dare not tell, ‡‡It dashes madly down, as though to the very pit of hell.
Presumptuous man, you dare to write ‡‡Of nature’s works and the Great Architect of all!
Bend down thy knee, and revere His might, ‡‡Who formed this cataract, who made this fall.
Henry D. O’Reilly was from Dublin, Ireland.
It is possible that Henry D. O’Reilly was the Irish immigrant who was influential in the development of Rochester, New York, and in the development of the Erie Canal. O’Reilly was also active in publishing. Click here for more information on O’Reilly.
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
‘Tis first a little disappointment, ‡‡And next a little wonder;
Then plenty of aquatic ointment, ‡‡And awful lots of thunder!
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
Portrait of Maria Gowen Brooks (Maria del Occidente)
Spirit of Homer! Thou whose song has rung ‡‡From thine own Greece to this supreme abode ‡‡Of Nature — this great fane of Nature’s God —
Breathe on my brain — oh! touch the fervid tongue ‡‡Of a fond votaress kneeling on the sod.
Sublime and beautiful, your chapel’s here ? — ‡‡Here ‘neath the azure dome of heaven ye’re wed — ‡‡Here, on this rock, which trembles as I tread!
Your blended sorcery claims both pulse and tear, ‡‡Controls life’s source and reigns o’er heart and head.
Terrific — but O! — beautiful abyss! — ‡‡If I should trust my fascinated eye, ‡‡Or hearken to thy maddening melody,
Sense — form — would spring to meet thy white foam’s kiss — ‡‡Be lapped in thy soft rainbows, once, and die.
Color, depth, height, extension — all unite ‡‡To chain the spirit by a look intense! — ‡‡The dolphin in his clearest seas — or thence
Ta’en, for some queen, to deck of ivory white, ‡‡Dies not, in changeful tints, more delicately bright.
Look — look! — there comes o’er yon pale green expanse, ‡‡Beyond the curtain of this altar vast, ‡‡A glad young swan; — the smiling beams that cast
Light from her plumes, have lured her soft advance — ‡‡She nears the fatal brink — her graceful life has past.
Look up! nor her fond foolish fate disdain; — ‡‡An eagle rests upon the wind’s sweet breath — ‡‡Feels he the charm? — woos he the scene beneath?*
He eyes the sun — nerves his dark wing again — ‡‡Remembers clouds and storms — flies the lovely death.
“Niagara! wonder of this western world, ‡‡And all the world beside! hail, beauteous queen ‡‡Of cataracts!” an angel, who had been
O’er heaven and earth, spoke thus — his bright wings furled, ‡‡And knelt to Nature first, on this wild cliff unseen.
Source: Maria del Occidente. Idomen; or, The Vale of Yumuri. New York: Samuel Coleman, 1843. p 194-195. View a copy on Archive.org
Also published with changes to the poem and no title in the 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
*Author’s note:
“An eagle rests upon the wind’s sweet breath! Feels he the charm ? woos he the scene beneath ?
Those travellers who saw the falls of Niagara while the country about them was still a perfect wilderness, have said that many birds, and sometimes even eagles, would sail, as it were, upon the current of air, until retreat was impossible.
Since the falls have become a fashionable resort, wild animals, of course, have most of them deserted the place ; water fowl, however, are now not very unfrequently dee¢ived by the smoothness of the current, and perish in the manner of the swan described on the page mentioned.
With solitary birds of the air, it also might once have been the’ case. Dr. Goldsmith observes, that on some of the stupendous cliffs of Norway, the numerous hirds are so unaccustomed to the sight of man, that they know not his power to hurt them, and suffer the1nsclves to be taken
with the hand; even birds, however, are soon taught by experience to fly from danger. M. de Chateaubriand’s description of the cataract of Niagara, and of the river Mississippi or “Mechacebe,” while both were untouched by any hand save that of Nature, is fine, perhaps, as any thing of the kind ever written.”
This link takes you to the scanned version of the 1855 version of Table Rock Album from the Hathi Trust
For the same reason that you do;
Because ’tis hard to speak it.
Anonymous:
On memory’s page two things will never fade —
Niagara Falls and Barnett’s lemonade!
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
