The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-03-23 00:00:00

Vortrp.

THE PISTYLL HHAIADR,
A CELL3HATED CATAI:ser IN NOll.ll WALES.
BY THE REV. R. MONTGOMERY,
Author of the "Omnipresence of the Deity," " The Messiah,"
" Wonsan," &c.

In slumber, when some drea►n of daring power
Transcends creation, or outdazzles earth,
wither'd paradise ►nay seem revived ;
And oft when Poesy and young Romance
Together mount imagination's throne,—
What landscapes, tit for seraphim to walk,
In the green loveliness of Nature's youth
Have bloom'd beneath their fascinating smile !
And vet, no dreaming pump, nor baidic spell,
Can rival thee, by God himself arrayed
With glory terrible, and bea4ty wild,
Thou earth•adorniug Cataract !—once seen,
And seen for ever !—heard in truth for once,
And by the spirit heard for evermore !

When, like some vision of a ruin-'d world,
In foaming majesty I saw thee fall
From crag to crag. terrifically swift,
My soul was hutted, in trance of wonder bound ;
A word was outrage !—mute as thought, 1 gaz'd
Upon thee, vanquii,h'd by the dread sublime :
As in the presence of Almighty Power,
My being trembled—language was extinct !
Aloft, aloft, precipitate and loud,
The plunging torrent like a war-horse leaps
Adnwn the black ravine ! and white with rage,
And thunderingly hoarse, the headlong wave
Froth rock to rock in froth and foam careers,
In tameless, terrible, unwearied ire
For ever raving !—Hark ! the mountain thrills
And throbs, the leaflets palpitate with awe,
The branches quiver, like the limbs of fear,
On each grey elm, while, floating like the breath
Of conscious being, lo ! the mist ascends
In tremor from the panting surge below,
Lingers awhile, in airy balance hung,
Then trembles downward with a quav'ring fall,
In rain-drops delicate as unshed tears.

King of stern waterfalls ! thine awe pervades,
And like the genius of romance creates
A spirit of enchantment round thy home :
The valley, hush'd as desolation loves,
The gloom chaotic of thine ancient hills,
Torn by the tempest's savage wing, and decked
With foliage, touch'd by autumn's pale decay,
Aud drip of water from the rocks, dissolv'd
In feeble music, faint as dream-heard sighs,—
All these in-one vast sentiment unite
.Around thee, making sound and sight appeal
Like poetry, from Nature's heart evok'd !
And while with contemplation's spell-bound eyes,
Amid the spray, the thunder,'and the din,
Monarch of waters ! upon thee I gaz'd,
The witchery of deep assuciatien rose,—
On myriads, now in earth 4ntl darkness mute,
1 ponder'd, who, like me, had feasted soul
And sense, and drank emotions-rich as 'nine,
Fronts thine enchantment. Here the worldling came,
And lett, perchance, his worldliness behind ;
Here Pride, Ambition, Avarice, and Hate,
Those demons of the mind, their sceptres broke,
And shrunk like Satan from the Saviour's word,
!iv thee o'eraw'd !—and here the poet dreamt,
While sentiment and thought his heart o'erwhelm'd
With magic potency, till he became
Sublime in thy sublimity of scene !
And from the centre of his spirit felt
Warm inspiration like a sunrise bresk,
Aud meauings, full of worldless beauty, flaw.
Farewell ! thou roaring flood of Scynfa* born,
In loud monotony of loansiog ire
Rage on fur ever !—rule all hearts and eyes
That bow before thee :—Teacher of the wild
And wondrous ! may thy voice eternal be,
And speak of HIM whose shadow is the sun,
Whom torrent, sea, and tempest loudly praise,
Whose love is syllabl'd by ev'ry breeze,
While, seated on Eternity's vast throne,
Ile wields Ills sceptre o'er ten thousand worlds
Farewell ! thou dory of a glorious clime,
Farewell ! the sight—but not farewell the sense
Of thee :—for in the cute of mein'ry's heart
The grand dominion of thv scene will dwell;
And oft amid the dust of daily life,
'Phe prose of dry existence, will beget
Sensations high, and feelings nobly pure :
Or, wafted back on fancy's sun•bright wing,
My soul will visit thee, and hear again
The thund'ring harmonies of thy dread stream,
Like a huge wave in endless plunge and roar,)
And view the Almighty by His work revealed !

• " The name of the mountain where the Rhaiadr rises.