"The Hudson" - Unknown

Proud stream! the birchen barks that wont of old,

From cove to cove to shoot athwart thy tide;

The quivered nations eloquent and bold,

Whose simple fare thy shores & depths supplied,

Are passed away; and men of other mould

Now o’er thy bosom their winged fabrics guide,

All white with sails thy keel-thronged waters flee

Through one rich lapse of plenty to the sea.

Beauty and majesty on either hand

Have shored thy waters with their common realm;

Here pasture, grove, and harvest field expand,

There, the rough boatman veers his yielding helm

From the sheer cliff, whose shadow broad & grand

Darkens his sail, and seems his path to whelm

With doubt and gloom; till through some wild ravine,

A gush of sunlight leaps upon the scene!