362 CONSOLATIONS OF SOLITUDE
" At last the busy hand of man
Would stay my course or fix my bound ;
Swift would I break the obstructing dam, And scatter desolation round.
��"The ruined village there behold,
The tottering spire, the uprooted tree ;
The shepherd vainly seeks his fold ; The husbandman no crop shall see.
" Long since grown tame, my noiseless ware
Disdains to scatter waste and woe. I seek not to destroy, but save,
Dispensing blessings as I go.
" For I, with life, have gathered strength,
And strength should scorn the weak to oppress ;
My foes all vanquished now, at length I seek to fertilize and bless.
" No longer violent and wild,
My course is straight, and calm, and still ; The man hath put away the child ;
I carve the valley at my will.
" Within my bosom deep and wide, My power protects each entering rill ;
Its work I teach, each movement guide. That all their duty may fulfil.
" Swift o'er my breast the steamer glides ;
Joyous the snowy sail expands ; I bear the ship to ocean's tides.
And urge her on to distant lands.
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