Roll on great River, with resistless force,
Which, like old Time, stays not for human will;
For who shall stop him in his viewless course,
Or who shall bid thy mighty voice be still?
None but the power that taught ye both to flee,
Thou to thy misty gulf of clouds, while he
Rolls likewise onward, changing all but thee ---
So both shall stop but in eternity.
Thy course is onward, downward, free and loud,
While his is silent, dim, but no less sure.
He creeps along, scarce noticed by the crowd,
Whilst thou dost stun the senses with the roar
Of thy tremendous cataracts, which call
Each to the others, and all ears appal;
Leaping in thunder from the rocky wall,
And, like a hero, greatest in its fall.
