A WATER-FOWL. Mark how the feathered tenants of the flood, Their curious pastime! shaping in mid air As if they scorned both resting-place and rest! THE HAWK. WORDSWORTH Who but hails the sight with pleasure When the wings of genius rise Their ability to measure With great enterprise ; But in man was ne'er such daring Mark him, how his power he uses, Mark, ere for his haunt he chooses There, he wheels in downward mazes With uninjured plumes! WORDSWORTH. THE GREEN LINNET. Beneath these fruit-tree boughs that shed In this sequestered nook how sweet To sit upon my orchard-seat! And birds and flowers once more to greet, One have I marked, the happiest guest In all this covert of the blest: Hail to Thee, far above the rest In joy of voice and pinion! Thou, Linnet! in thy green array, Dost lead the revels of the May; And this is thy dominion. While birds, and butterflies and flowers, Thou, ranging up and down the bowers, A Life, a Presence like the Air, Thyself thy own enjoyment. Amid yon tuft of hazel trees, My dazzled sight he oft deceives, As if by that exulting strain He mocked and treated with disdain The voiceless Form he choose to feign, WORDSWORTH. THE SHIP. She comes majestic with her swelling sails Hark to the sailors' shouts! the rocks rebound, To view the port desired, he only knows And watch'd, all anxious, every wind that blows. SOUTHEY, THE SPINNING WHEEL. Swiftly turn the murmuring wheel! Dewy night o'ershades the ground; Turn the swift wheel round and round! Now, beneath the starry sky, Couch the widely-scattered sheep; Ply the pleasant labor, ply! For the spindle, while they sleep, Runs with speed more smooth and fine, Short lived likings may be bred WORDSWORTH. RAINBOW FALLS IN WATKINS GLEN. Watkins Glen consists properly of a number of glens or sections rising one above another, forming a series of rocky arcades, galleries and grottoes, subterranean at times, and again widening out into vast amphitheatres. It comprises a superficial area of nearly five hundred acres; its general course is east and west; its tortuous length extends over three miles, and its total ascent to the summit of the mountain above is eight hundred feet. This Great Natural Wonder is located at the head of the beautiful Seneca Lake, where is presented a charming combination picture of glen, mountain, lake and valley. Triple Cascade and Rainbow Falls is thought by many to be the finest in the glen. As its name indicates, it is formed of three portions, one above another, each different in form from the others and making a beautiful combina tion. Directly opposite the Triple Cascade a little brook leaps over the brow of the great cliff nearly four hundred feet high, down into the glen, trickling over the irregular surface of the rock until it reaches a point thirty feet above the footpath, where it falls on a projecting rock, the edge of which is curved outward to form a shelf, this edge or shelf is in a crescent form. The water descends in a myriad of tiny threads and drops, forming a sparkling crystal veil. While standing here and looking out through the misty curtain, the novelty of the position and the peculiar beauty that the radiant raindrops impart to everything viewed through them, fill us with wonder. It is beautiful beyond description. In the afternoon, when fair weather prevails, the rays of the sun fall into the gorge. The enraptured visitor looking through the veil may behold two most beau tiful rainbows, a primary and a secondary, a sight that once enjoyed can never be forgotten. |