Music — Poetry — Fiction 



nacle-Rock. The Whirlpool. Apostrophe to the Fall respect- 1848 

 ing its origin and early life. The Fall's Invocation to the Crea- u ey 

 tive Spirit for the Seasons. Evening and Night. The Hermit 

 of the Fall — his birth-place and character — his strain — his 

 melancholy and aspirations — his strife, disappointment, doom, 

 fearful deed, remorse, and death. The Fall a witness of 

 Redemption. Sunrise — typical of Genius. Hymn of Praise. 

 Noon. The Flood's Invocation. Poet. Musician. The Table- 

 Rock. Beneath the Sheet. The Cataract's hymn to the Creator. 

 Proof of Deity. The Doom of Time, with the Flood's death- 

 dirge and fall. The Farewell to the Cataract. 



Spirit of the Fall 



What towering form erects its figure here, 

 To check the footsteps of inquiring man, 

 As if it were a sentry at his post, 

 To guard with faithfulness the narrow pass? 

 It is the Rock of Manitou, the Pinnacle 

 On which the gloomy spirit of the Fall, 

 Sits brooding o'er the tide below, that shows 

 His fearful frowns reflected in its wave, 

 Or feels the movements of his busy hand 

 Searching its depths and torturing its course, 

 Till its full currents reel in conscious pain! 



How high the Water-God his altar rears 



With jagged summits from a liquid base! 



How green the moss that decks its time-worn crown. 



Like youthful forms that cluster round old age! 



From yonder cliff, impending o'er the stream 



With shadowy fringes of the evergreen, 



This massive pile, like an inverted cone, 



Seems hurled in other years with giant hand, 



Upon the kindred masses dashed below I 



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