Ohio History Journal

THE OLD RIVER BRIDGE.   JAMES BALL NAYLOR.   (Read at the dedication of the Malta-McConnelsville steel bridge, July 8th, 1902. The flew steel bridge superseded the old wooden toll bridge built in 1867.)   The old river-bridge, grown decrepit and gray In the warfare of years, has, alas, passed away; For Time the remorseless has triumphed at last- And the faithful old bridge is a part of the past. Like a warrior it stood, with its feet in the tide And its lean arms outstretched to the bridegroom and bride Saying: "Lovers unwitting, God's will has been done! I've blessed ye and bound ye; ye twain are made one!"   When the elements battled, and thunderbolts fell- Like arrows God-flung at the ramparts of hell; When a crash of the storm sent a chill to the blood, And the highway of man was the gateway of flood; Then the sturdy old bridge strained its sinews of wood, And stiffened, and quivered, and tottered-but stood! And the message it sent o'er the turbulent tide Was: "I've bound ye and blessed ye; no storm shall divide!

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96       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

At night-in midwinter, when snowdrifts lay deep, And the wind was awake and the world was asleep; Or in summer, when hilltop and housetop and stream Were aglint with the touch of the moon's paly beam; Then the old wooden bridge, that no ill might betide, Kept guard o'er the slumbering bridegroom and bride. And the words that it murmured at daybreak's release Were: "I've guarded and kept ye; sleep on - sleep in peace!"   Ah, the old river-bridge felt the terrors and tears Of the twain it had joined - all their sorrows and fears ! And it, also, partook of their pastimes and joys- Knew their frolicsome girls and their rollicksome boys! And its rigid, impassive, old features of oak Went aquiver with smiles, at the crack of a joke Or the trill of a laugh and it whispered: "Ah, me! May their lives full of pleasure and happiness be!"   But there came in the year of the century's birth - Sent by Time the remorseless, the ruler of earth - A panoplied knight in a harness of steel; And the old wooden bridge felt the conqueror's heel! Knowing well that its battles and triumphs were o'er- That the friends it had loved would now need it no more, It sank down to its rest, with the tremulous sigh: "I've blessed ye and served ye; God keep ye-good bye!"

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