FullReads

Laughing and singing
With rhythmical flow,
Leaping and springing,
O light-hearted Sault!–
Tossing up snowy hands
In thy glad play,
Shaking out dewy locks
Bright with the spray,–
Joyously ever
Thy bright waters go,
Yet wearying never,
O beautiful Sault!

Kingly Superior
Leaps to thy arms,
And all his broad waters
Are bright with thy charms;
They sparkle, and glitter,
And flash in their play,
Chasing ripple and rainbow
Away and away!
Weary, I ween,
Of his solemn repose,
Gaily the mighty Flood
Flashes and glows;
And, buoyantly, brightly,
Fleet-footed or slow,
Doth dance with thee lightly,
Unwearying Sault!

If I were a fairy
I’d dance with thee too,
Daily and nightly,
Unfalt’ring and true;–
In sunlight and starlight,
In darkness and day,
As free as the breezes,
As glad in our play!
We’d sing in the darkness,
We’d laugh in the light,
We’d whirl in the eddies
At noonday and night,–
We’d toss up the waters
In sunshine, to see
How they’d fling us back di’monds
And gold in their glee;–
Such amethysts, topazes,
Rubies and pearls,
As we’d strew o’er the tide
In our innocent whirls,
And never be lonely,
Or weariness know–
Ourselves, and us only–
O light-hearted Sault!

Yet the dance is thine own,
And the song and the glee,
Thou dwellest alone,
Untrammelled and free
Our ships may not glide
O’er thy bosom,–our feet
May not trace out one path,
Or explore one retreat!
We may hollow our channels
To left or to right,
And glide on our way
With thy gambols in sight,
Yet this, and this only,
Of thee we may know,
Thou lone, but not lonely,
Free, fetterless Sault!

Farewell, ye bright waters,–
We part, and for aye!–
My pathway leads on
O’er the billows away;–
These feet will grow weary
In life’s busy mart,
These eyes be oft tear-dim,
And heavy this heart;
But thou wilt sing on
In thy joyous unrest,
Unchanging, unwearying,
Buoyant and blest
While the slow-footed centuries
Glide on their way,
And nations grow hoary,
And sink in decay,–
Thou, tireless and tameless,
Unchecked in thy flow,
Shalt sing on as ever,
O beautiful Sault!