The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-10-09

and over the hushed sleeper fell the still, colo
light. The moaning of the river had ceased t.
trouble him.
After lifes ftful fever no slept woll,"
From the National Inteligencer
THE SONG OF IRON.
BY C. W. CUTTER,
AWthorefths lSpsg IF 4Sagm, Z PIsssiJals Dnaw,,tr
Hcave the bellows and pile the fire,
Like the red and fearful glow
Where the craters lurid clouds aspire
Ger the darkened plains below;
Let the weight of your ponderous hammers smite
With the power of the mountain stream;
Or thunder beneath the earthquake might
That dwells in the arm of steam
Though cannot boast tho diamonds hue,
The tempting CLEAN of gold,
With which, by the arts of the grasping few,
The nations are bought and sold
Yet is my presence more priceless far
Than the blaze of earth's royal gem,
That ever has kinded ducal star,
Or famed in diadem.
In the fearful depths of the rayless mine
My giant strength was laid,
Ere the sun or the moon or the stars that shine
In the boundless heavens we're made;
Ere darkness was rolled from the deep away;
Ere the skies were spread abroad;
Ere the words that called up the light of day
Were breathed by che lips of God
Ye were but poor and powerless race
Till ye wisely sought my aid;
Ye dwelt like the beasts of the savage chase,
In the gloom of the forest shade;
Where often the nomad yielded his hearth
To the wolf in pale alright,
And the tooth of the lion stained tho earth
With the blood of the trogodyte.
How helpless ye saw the descending rain,
The waters resistless aow,
The frost that sear'd tho verdant plain.
And the binding drfrts OF snow
For you no steer his neck would yield
No steed your slave would be;
Yo trac' d no burrows along the field
No pathways DER the sea-
The myriad stars came forth at oven;
The bow Of God was bent
Inscrbing the wondrous laws of Heaven
Der the measureless armament.
Bright consultations and fed;
The fair moon waxed and waned;
But the record which they nightly spread
Unknown 10 you remained.
But when some proscicnt spark of mind
Invaded my lone retreat,
And yo learn'd my Protcus form to bind,
And fashion, with fervent heat,
The cleaning sword from the flames loapd out
And the hook for the golden grain;
And the air grew vocal with freedoms shout
Where the tyrants of earth were slain
Then rose tho dome and the lofty tower
Where the grooming forest fell;
And the massive guns look'd frowning o'cr
The walls Of the citadel.
The dizzy and tapering steeple sprung,
And aash'd in the summer air;
And the pendant bell in the turret swung
To summon the world to prayer
Stout ships encountered the bowling storms
On the trackless sea secure;
For held the fate Of their gallant forms,
And my grasp is strong and sure.
Midst the lightnings CLEAN and the tempest's roar
They feard not the angry main,
For they cast their trusty anchors Ocr,
And laughed at the hurricane
At my touch the massive column soard!
The graceful arch was thrown.
And forms of beauty the world adored
Rose mp in deathless stone.
Ye riyailod the tints Of the blushing dawn
With the hues my dust supplied,
Till the humbcst work Of art has shons
Like the mist by ranbows dyed.
come where the suffering patient lies
On his couch, all wan and weak;
And the lustre returns to his sunken eyes,
And the bloom to his pallid cheek.
Ye fear not the roar of the thunder loud;
Ye sleep with the storms around
For the bolt clutch in the threatening cloud
Fails harmless TO the ground.
Where I tread, the crooked paths grow straight,
The old hills disappear - as.
And / draw each distant, hostile 61At%
In friendly commerce, near
Swift, through veins by the lightning tnrfd,
Your thoughts like the tcmpcst sweep,
Till knowledge has covered the rolling world,
Az the waters have covered the deep.
And soon ye shall see my massive ore
In many grander pile
Than ever adorned the Theirs shore
Or tho banks of the ancient Nile
The sacred temple shall rear Its roof
The cottage for social glee,
The frowning fortress, thunder-proof,
And the ships Of every sea