THE SONG OF IRON.

Otago Witness, Issue 67, 28 August 1852, Page 4

THE SONG OF IRON.

BY G. "SV. CUTTEE,

Author of the Song of Steam, ' E Pluribus Unum,' &c. Heave the bellows and pile the fire, Like the red and fearful glow Where the crater's lurid clouds aspire O'er the darkened plains below; Let the -weight of your pond'rous hammers smite With the power of the mountain stream; Or thunder beneath the earthquake might That dwells in the arm of steam! Tho' I cannot boast the diamond's hue The tempting gleam of gold, With which, by the arts of the grasping few, The nations are bought and sold ; Yet in my presence more priceless far Than the Maze of the earth's royal gem, That ever has kindled a ducal star, Or flamed in. a diadem. In the fearful depths of the rayiess mine My giant strength was laid, Ere the sun, or the moon, or the stars that shine In the boundless heavens were made; Ere darkness was rolled from the deep away; Ere the slues were spread abroad; Ere the words that called up the light of day Y/ere breathed by the lips of God! Ye were but a poor and powerless race Till ye wisely sought my aid; Ye dwelt like tlie beasts of the savage chase, In the gloom of the forest shade; Where often the nomad yielded his hearth To the wolf, in pale afiiight, And the tooth of the lion stained the earth With the blood of the troglodyte. How helpless ye saw the descending rain, The water's resistless flow, The frost that seared the verdant plain, And the blinding drifts of snow ! For you no steer his neck would yield — No steed your sla^ c would be ; Ye trae'd no furrows along the field, No pathways o'er the sea! The myriad stars came forth at even ; The bow of God was bent, Inscribing the wondrous laws of Heaven O'er the measureless firmament. Bright constellations roae and fled ; The fair moon waxed and waned ; But the record which they nightly spread Unknown to you remained. But when some prescient spark of mind Invaded my lone retreat, And ye learned my Proteus form to bind, And fashion, with f'eiveut heat, The gleaming sword from the flames lcap'd out And the hook for the golden grain ; And the air grew vocal v.ith freedom's shout Vi here the tyrants of oarth ueie sidin ; Then lose the dome a::d tuo loft > tower Vi Llvj ike JToaiui.g ioivst Je:l; Ami me masisno t,uns look'd nowning o\?r lh( j walls of die citadel. The dizzy and tapering steeple sprung, And flashed in the summer air; And the pendant bell in the tiuret swung To summoa the world to prayer ! Stout ships encountered the howling storms On the tractless sea secure ; For I held the fate of their gallant forms, And my grasp is strong and sure. Midst the lightning's gleam and the tempest's roar, They feared not the angry main, For they cast their trusty anchors o'er, And laughed at the hurricane. At my touch the massive column soar'd ! The graceful arch w as thrown ! And forms of beauty the world adored Rose up in deathless stone. Ye rivalled the tints of the blushing dawn With the hues of my dust supplied, Till the humblest work of art has shown Like the mist by rainbows dyed. I come where the suffering patient lies On his couch, all wan and weak ; And the lustre returns to his sunken eyes, And the bloom to his pallid cheek. Ye fear not the roar of the thunder loud; Ye sleep with the storms around; For the bolt I clutch in the threatening cloud Falls harmless to the ground. Where I tread, the crooked paths grow straight, The old hills disappear; And I draw each distant hostile State, In friendly commerce, near ! Swift through veins by the lightning huvl'd, Your thoughts like the tempest sweep, Till knowledge has covered the rolling world, As the waters have covered the deep. And soon ye shall see my massive ore In many a grander pile Than ever adorned the Tiber's shore, Or the banks of the ancient Nile. The sacred temple shall rear its roof, The cottage for social glee, The frowning fortress, thunder-proof, And the ships of every sea. Then hurra ! ye fearless sons of toil! Your nation's strength and pride ! May ye reap a harvest of golden spoil O'er the earth and the ocean wide ! May your poni'rous hammers ever smite With the power of the mountain stream; Or thunder beneath the earthquake might That dwells in the arm of steam!