Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1849-12-27
For the Burlington Hawk-Eys.
Address to lIawk-Eye Creek.

For the Burlington Hawk-Eys.
Address to lIawk-Eye Creek.
Thou vast in elder days pretty stream,
Thick stud with stately oak and shady elm,
Where the plumed choristcrs with mathis woke
The dewy morn, and sung her lullaby at eve;
There too the dove pour'd her sad plaintive note,
High from some messy branch Of wither'd tree,
Making the passer-hy grow melancholic,
At the sweetly pensive cadence Of her song;
And then the Naiacs and their sister elves,
Came tripping Oft on ti'my feet at morn,
To battle and sport within thy crystal wave,
Which With light ripping DER thy pebbles sped,
Breathing soft murmurs TO thy parent food,
As down thy tortuous course it gently rolrd,
Is clear pelucid waters, sparkling in the sun,
Like long sinuous line OF molten silver,
Warm oozing from some radiant huXing Mrn.
But what dismal change has DER thee past!
See now thy waters are discolor'd at the fount,
Where thy two sister streams like parted loves,
Who far have wandered in wild devious paths
or thwarted passion, till at length the fame
Which crossed them is consumed. and then
By haplcss chance, alike to each unknown,
They meet again and mingle into one.
And here does spring the source of all thy woes /;
The cause which made the Maids and tiny elves,
Afrighted fly their wonted old resorts,
And seek for other haunts and scenes Of sport;
Peace loving Nymphs no longer would endure,
The agonizing cries and struggling groans,
OF water loving Porous, heard all day,
And oft prolonged thro' halfthe shade of night,
From those two rival domes of Gothic mould,
Belching forth-vesuvius- like-a food
Ofpurplish tint, far streaming down thy wave,
Obnoxious rendering all thy watery store,
Unto four-6fths Of the Sensorum.
No wonder then that thou art hated so,
And shunn'd by all, save stern class Of men,
Bold Mammon's fortune driving dauntless sons,
Men Of one thought, the thought Of Lucre's gain,
And deeply mers'd in that, too careless heed
The wants or social ease of their own kind,
But rush along with all their business prows,
Crushing beneath their feet upon the way,
The weak poor tenants of less proud estate.
No longer now as once in other years,
Fair maidens HE to thee with sylvan pail,
To dip up water from thy crystal stream,
10 Clear nnmentlOnaucS VI duSi OF SNdInS
Nor overlabor'd thirsty sutf'ring beast,
Loud lowing runs in hurried haste to thee,
To cool the fever Of his toii-vex'd nerves.
Fen Porous self, should one survive the wrath
or this disastrous day, win ne'er invade
Thy blood discolor'd and polluted stream.
In truth. thou art useless, filthy Branch,
More hated than auld Styx, long foal and dark,
With frightful ghosts Of Grecian hern's hurld,
To fIades' gloomy realm from Troy's dread shore,
By god Apolo's dire avenging bow.
Adonai Oft at Summer ev'ning strolrd,
From the loud hustle and confusion dire
OF city shop, or counter, desk or board,
Along thy limpid waters arid side,
To catch the symphony Of warhling bird,
Trilpd from the sylvan tangles on the hill.
Or breathe the sweets of thyme svooa-sine shed,
From the soft Zephyr's aromatic wing.
But now they grace no more thy pirey side,
But shun thee as they do those lewd decets
| OF iu>tful Fl ance, eked ont ly Artist vile,
In days when Reason lost her prop and fed
! Her sunny cline, and Vice with dragon. front,
And Hipo-gr,ffic wing. st,ew'a round her land
Bartarc toys, to rob by stealhy means,
/ Chaste Virtue Of her priceiy rubic pearl.
That city belle ne'er passes length,
| But she in dread to look thee in the face,
Sleeps in haste her nicely 'broidered lawn,
In Eau ~ Rose, and plies tito her face,
| Lest she should thee with her eyes and swoon
The Stranger, too, who comes from lands remote
I
| Must meet thee he journeys with some cit,
( Who needs mus, show him the gigantic growth,
Of our fam'd cty-and its works of Art,
Its domes and sacred ianes with dizzy spire,
| Like Dabei's wonder, nodding mid the sky
| Its hills, from whence for many miles afar,
The Sire Of Floods, around his woody isles,
| Mgjcstic rolls his watry pride along
Thence bending we stward down the slopes they &C
Towards those mammoth domes OF Modern Art,
Where Porous yields his life with horrid groans,
| And then the Stranger first gets sight of thee
But such sight as he will ne'er forget
And oft will talk Of thee, to while away
| The tedum Of his journey, and will strive
To prove by Whatcly's syllogistic rules,
Why the good denizens ofthrist and wealth,
Do suffer thee to drag thy lazy length,
Thro' city SO o'erpopulous as ours.
Bloating the air with thy defiant breath,
Offending city belle and matron grave and sire.
But they sweet pensioners ofeartl's proud lords
Tho much incensd and have the will,
And would that will employ and drive thee back,
Unto thy source, far from their private walks,
Or curb thee under ground where never more,
Thou wouldst offend lady in her pleasure rounds
Were not this dread connected with the will,
That if they did, they might their lords offend.
Wretched indeed! thy cup Of woe is full,
The scorn Of all who near pass thee by,
Thou wilt into proverb surely go,
, Unless thou purge myself of lard and gore.
4 The learned, the rich, and the beau monde,
Go by thee with grimace on their phiz;
, And e'en the poor thy neighbors who reside,
Within the precincts Of thy swelling sides,
: Abhor thee, as they do some loathsomc thing;
And thou in truth deservest all their spleen;
For guilt lies at thy feet, and undisguis'd
Thy acts them selves return verdict Of thy guilt;
a Such acts climbing DER their piny walls
In the broad eye Of day, and skulking thence
s Into their kitchens, bouncing Harpy-like,
Upon some nicely favor'd dish OF roast,
Or savory pudding, pie, or pastry fine;
And oft with daring impudence impelled,
Sit down and share the hasty breakfast meal,
3D.. - A.