'Tis well --- on sunny dreams of youth,
And glowing hopes that oft would steal
On manhood's hour, the hand of truth
Has stamped its impress, set its seal;
And all that I have felt and feel
Rush on my soul in currents deep ---
I see the thundering billows reel,
Niagara, down thy rocky steep ---
Callous the heart that fails to see
The finger of the Deity!
The grand, the terrible are thine ---
In majesty thou rollest on;
Unceasingly thy rainbows shine,
And will till time has ceased to run.
Emerging from the forest dun,
The savage stands in breathless fear;
And awful glories, one by one,
Arrest the white man's eye and ear.
An emblem meek thou art to me
Of limitless eternity!
