The Hawk-eye and Iowa patriot. (Burlington, Iowa) 1839-1843, 1840-01-02
s., Tur nAwx-rrE AND PATRIOT.
4 NIGHT REFLECTION.

3, -ruE HAwk-EYE AND PATRIOT.
NIGHT REFLECTION.
-, :, 3. banks Of the Mississippi, near
SonpOseu IL, =. Ior,a Territory. 9ime- Mid
night. sl,,
". ~ .cs RELY sends her feeble light below;
. ar ,nshing winds moan Ger yon ancient bluns
which tower aloft on Mississippi,s shore.
4 solemn gloom peryades this lonely houIL
A. times the moon transient momen. su0us
Her lambcnt light upon the silent seem, t;u.
xrl,;cl .,,etch their sable, wood.clad tops atar;
And yon prairic's wide and dreary pia IN
snreads in the dusky gloom monrnfui scene:
Nfonrnf,l-for there was once the red man s
.,1,s theirs, praycs are on yon distant hills,
f1;s brethrcn sIunber on these silent plains.
Methinks the midnight tempest-Spirlt means
The warriors dirge as now II PUSHES oy,
And Mississippi's troubled pillows shau noe
The requiem Of the ancient tribes Mno Wv, w.
Tn firm ole bark upon her waters passed..
~, ho,,os now moulder on her rugged shore,
while she in all her primal grandeur hows
An,ano a thousand generations tomDs.
Mvsterv. dark as midnight's present hour,
Fnsbronds in gloom, the past from mortal view;
How many ages here have passed away
While Unknown men were wandering in these
wiids?
Unknown from whence they came-unknown
their race
Unknown they livcd-upknown they pass'd
away.
These plains, these hills and streams composed
their world.
Zen to themselves their origin unknown;
= srhf q,
Ear every bloom the boundless forest bore
Display'd to them the being OF God.
They saw his glory blazing in the sun
'rhey hea I'd his breath in every passing 5reeze-
They saw his glance when lightning ut the SKY
And deem, d his voice was in the thunder's roar
And while they knew not whence their ia
theirs came, :,
They visit not where they went, but though,
some vale
Or bright Elysium grove received their shades
Ana there, where flowers perennial bloom
Where crystal streams in endless currents now
Their warrior chiefs shall rest in peace
No more to hear the wrathful war-whoop's cry
While ages roll'd the sun bcheld these plain:
Enwrapt in darkest night. Not heavens SUI
Could break the dismal shade that spread aiar:
twas moral night that lowered upon the land
And intellectual darkness brooded here.
The star of science shed its bright'ning rays
And cast a feeble CLEAN upon the shores
Where n0,p fair Freedom rears her temple dome
COLUMBUS saw-and following where the ray
Seemed to show some unknown, distant world
He brought to light Columbia mystic shores
Still ages fled, and where l now behold
The mansions of an infant city rise,
The gloom remained. Here savage tribes re
posed,
Nor dreamt that star whose rays Genoa's son
Saw like beacon in the ancient world,
Should yet dispense the dark and dateless shad
Which long had hung upon these western wild:
This star of light still westward shot its rays
And now how changed the scene! Yon frowr
ing bluffs
No more are roamed by bowling beasts of prey
Nor does the savage make yon groves his home
No bark canoe on Mississippi's wave,
Gides with the tawny sovereigns of the wild.
This mighty stream, which fow'd its count
less years
In lonely grandeur from the distant north
While nations, like it's torrents. pass'd away,
Now bears upon its wave art IS great triumph
Hunk Now upon the midnight gale hear
The hoarsc, loud cough which tells of Fulton
fame.
(FuLroN! oft have trod thy native soil,
And vlew'd the spot that gave thy genius biref
For it thou we'll hast earned a lasting name.
Throughout the world, to ev'ry distant cline
From England's shores to farther midas stran
The rushing steamer shows what thou has
done)
Now in these wilds long seal'd in darkest shad
IL seen and heard this great triumph Of art
And towns and cities string the winding shore
Where late the wild bird sang its lonely son
And forest wolves how'd to the midnight WING
When those who now are round me sunk i
sleep
Shall, like the Indian tribes, have passed ava
omi,igle dust with natives of the soil,
And other generations here shall dwell,
He who then shall gaze from where I'm sttin
r now,
4 Viewing the scenery by the moons pale ray,
Shall sec perchance, thronging city spread;
a thousand lights shall CLEAN from yondcr hill
While lofty towers and MASSEY domes shall ris
4 To greet afar the distant travellers view.
CoLuMsrA! land of sacred Freedoms home!
5 Thy genius makes the lonely desert glad
The wilderness to blossom as the rose
While prosperous cities grow within thy wild
Nurtur'd beneath thy lovely stripes and star.
The old world wastes beneath oppression rod
Her strongest cities mouldered to the EARTH
THERE'S, with her hundred gates and lofty wall
Seemh once too strong for time himself t
3aT crush
Her gorgeous fanes no longer scale the sky;
RoME, too. with all her ancient power Of arm:
No longer rules as mistress of the world
4 PAIMYRA's columns strew the desert ground,
] And gloomy owls moan in her wasted halls
JERusALEM's ancient glory pass'd away
No more on lions mount and AGRA 81 hill
Are heard the songs Of Judah's sacred bards.
Let our lov'd land be Freedom dear abode,
Then shall her moral ramparts ever stand;
More firm than Thebes' gates Of solid brass;
More fair than Tadmor's sculptured marb
towros;
More glorious far, than Rome's triumphar
arms.
GERvASIUs.
IOWA LEGISLATURE.