American watchman and Delaware advertiser. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1822-1828, 1826-07-25

Far stretching 10 The distant West
Where Sun and Stars were won't to rest
Upon the placid waters breast
Til, by volcanic thunders riven,
Or sever'd by the bolts OF Heaven,
Its mountain banks and rocky shore
Sustained the heaying weight no more
Swift to the distant ocean bore
The rush Of waters.
The Forests pride and Rocks uptorn,
Upon the mighty flood were borne
Like feathers on the raging storms
Vast banks of gravel and Of sand
Spread far DER all the lower land,
While in the mountain wales delayed,
Enormous heaps Of Driftwood staid,
Where, if the Learned tell us right,
1t blackened into Anthracite,
The same they now are digging out
And kindling in those Crates about.
But many little Lake remained
Zen when the mighty void was drained;
Such was the Lake. in olden time
That filled the Vale of Brandywine.
Long DER these adamantine hills
The tribute of its myriad rills
An outlet to the Ocean sought,
And here with toll unceasing wrought
Long had the torrents whirlpool-drills
Worked in the Granite Of these hills,
Ere that its slow and patient force
Dug for the stream its present course.
Or the wild waters eddying wave
Had scooped for me this spacious cave,
Or yet the wide and beauteous grove
Had budded from the wales above.
| There was the Wild Deer's tranquil home,
There sportive Nature lov'd to roam,
While Spring and Autumn's varying shade
Chequer'd the forest hill and glade,
! And oft the giant growth sublime
| Had bowed beneath the hand OF Time"
-" Say, stranger-haply you can tell,
| OF chance or fortune, what befel
/ A race that much resembled you, Isl
Though shaded with darker hue
Whose home for many an age was here,
His pride to chase the bounding Deer.
But lately, from the glen or hill
His cheerful whoop has ceased to thrill;
Sunk is his watch fires sacred beam
That gmmer'd DER the winding stream
His wonted strains, of Love or War,
That echoed from the shaded shore -
| lsten-but hear no more"
"Aas thou meier again shalt hear
His wel-known notes Of JOY or fear.
The varied feelings of his soul
That mingled with the torrents roll
That murmurcd in the distant vale,
Or burst upon the swelling gale,
Have died upon his native air
lnd spent their last vibration there.
deep in remotest w estern woods
lNhere mightier rivers roll their floods,
And rocker mountains stretch altar
lie wanders meath the evening star;
Forced from the land that gave him birth
He dwindles from the face OF earth.
All It's tale Of matchcss woe,
Which cen 'twere misery to know;
-Thourh n,pr his uativp soil we traCo
The footsteps Of prouder race,
Though the pavioned waste Of oak
Has how'd beneath the Woodman's stroke,
And where the Hunter used to roam
Ger his deep-shaded peaceful home,
Now tiOwery vale and verdant rock
invite the Shepherd and his flock
Though Industry with nervous hand
scatters her harvests Ger the land,
And Science in her magic course
Enists the reckless torrents force
Yet retrospection claims sigh
In memory Of scenes gone by.
Here on this wild and rocky hill
Where untamed Nature fingers still,
I've found last. a fav'rite home,
Where the bright ploughshare cannot come.
Here in a small but varied range,
| view the seasons ceaseess change,
Or listen to the careless throng
That stroll the streamsde path along,
And oft the plaintyc flute that there
Lends magic to the evening air;
And oft in contemplation led
Der the long vista that has hed,
draw from meditative lore
The shadows Of the scene before
Here shall the ceaseless torrent flow,
And here the woodland flowers shall blow,
And many sound Of mirth and woe
Shall burst upon the vale below;
Ihou shalt have mouldered cold and low
And known what other races know,
But jocund Echo still shall wait
To tell the scenes of distant date