TO CINCINNATI.
BY EDWARD A. M'LAUGHLIN (1798-?).
[This poem appeared as one of a
collection printed in Cincinnati in
1841. The general title of the book was
"Lovers of the Deep." To
any one who is acquainted with the culture of
Cincinnati the prophetic
vision of the poet can be keenly appreciated.]
City of gardens, verdant parks, sweet
bowers;
Blooming upon thy bosom, bright and
fair,
Wet with the dews of spring and summer's
showers,
And fanned by every breath of wandering
air;
Rustling the foliage of thy green
groves, where
The blue-bird's matin wakes the smiling
morn,
And sparkling humming-birds of plumage
rare,
With tuneful pinions on the zephyrs
borne,
Disport the flowers among, and glitter
and adorn:
Fair is thy seat, in soft recumbent rest
Beneath the grove-clad hills; whence
morning wings
The gentle breezes of the fragrant west,
That kiss the surface of a thousand
spring:
Nature, her many-colored mantle flings
Around thee, and adorns thee as a bride;
While polished Art his gorgeous tribute brings,
And dome and spire ascending far and
wide
Their pointed shadows dip in thy Ohio's
tide.
So fair in infancy-O what shall be
Thy blooming prime expanding like the
rose
In fragrant beauty; when a century
Hath passed upon thy birth and time
bestows
The largess of a world that freely
throws
Her various tribute from remotest
shores,
To enrich the western Rome: Here shall
repose
Science and art; and from times subtile
ores-
Nature's unfolded page-knowledge enrich
her stores.
Talent and Genius to thy feet shall
bring
Their brilliant offerings of immortal
birth:
Display the secrets of Pieria's spring,
Castalia's fount of melody and mirth:
Beauty and grace and chivalry and worth.
(350)